Habibur Masum: Bradford murder suspect subject of UK-wide manhunt

Habibur Masum, 25, is wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing, police said

A nationwide police search is continuing for a 25-year-old man suspected of stabbing a woman to death as she pushed her baby in a pram.

Habibur Masum is wanted on suspicion of murdering the woman in a knife attack in the Westgate area of Bradford.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed the baby was not harmed in the attack.

A shopkeeper who tried to save the victim said the woman, who has not yet been named by police, was a "good, charitable lady".

Every police force in the country has been tasked with finding Mr Masum, who is described as Asian and of a slim build. He is from the Oldham area and is believed to have links to the Burnley and Chester areas.

Specialist teams were combing the area for evidence over the weekend

Officers said a knife was recovered from the scene on Saturday but could not confirm whether Mr Masum was armed.

A Facebook page believed to belong to Mr Masum suggests he is a Bangladeshi national and is studying digital marketing at the University of Bedfordshire.

The university declined to comment or confirm if Mr Masum was one of its students when contacted by the BBC.

Geo Khan, who runs a fruit and veg shop close to the scene of the incident, told the BBC how he had tried to save the victim after he found her body on Saturday afternoon.

Mr Khan said he knew the woman by sight and that she had been coming into his store for a "few weeks".

"I was sitting in my shop when I heard screaming," he said.

"I came out and ran to the scene and there was a body lying on the floor. I tried to check her pulse and there was none."

Geo Khan said he found the woman's body on Saturday afternoon

"Within a few minutes a doctor arrived and we tried to turn her over," he said.

"There was blood everywhere. I got a sheet and I put that over her until the ambulance arrived.

"It was really, really bad. I couldn't take it in.

"She was a good, charitable lady and all the time there was a smile on her face.

"The local area is distressed. I just feel really sorry for her and for what happened."

Flowers have been left at the scene

The Rev Duncan Milwain, assistant curate at Bradford Cathedral, said churches and mosques in the city would be open to people wishing to grieve.

He said: "The cathedral is open at all times for anybody who wants to come and sit down, talk to somebody, pray or light a candle.

"Bradford's a city of faith. This must be used to bring the community together, rather than pull people apart.

"Being towards the end of Ramadan, it's a terrible time for this to have happened."

Mr Milwain said "people who don't know Bradford" should be assured the incident was "isolated".

"Bradford is a young and vibrant city," he added.

"It's really an optimistic place. We don't want a narrative that Bradford's an unfortunate place to be. It's a place of great hope."

The Rev Duncan Milwain said churches and mosques would be open for people to grieve

West Yorkshire's deputy mayor for policing and crime, Alison Lowe, said Mr Masum was known to the victim and was considered "very dangerous".

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Monday, Mrs Lowe said: "There is a very complex investigation currently ongoing with all forces in the country trying to locate the suspect.

"We don't think this was a random killing, the police know the two people were known to each other."

She said people in the community were "shocked and distressed" by what had happened.

She added: "The reason I'm speaking today is to give reassurance to that community that everything is being done to locate this suspect and to reassure them that these incidents are really rare.

"This was someone who knew the victim and is highly unlikely to be a risk to anybody else in Bradford or wider West Yorkshire."

West Yorkshire's deputy mayor said the community had been left "shocked and distressed"