Ranjith Kakanamalage: Reward offered over homophobic murder

Ranjith Kankanamalage had lived in Tower Hamlets for many years

Detectives investigating the suspected homophobic murder of a man in an east London cemetery have offered a £20,000 reward for information.

Ranjith "Roy" Kankanamalage, 50, was found at 06:30 BST on 16 August in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Post-mortem tests found he died from blunt-force trauma to the head.

Officers are treating his death as a homophobic hate crime. They believe witnesses may not have come forward.

Det Supt Pete Wallis, from the Met's specialist crime command, said: "We understand that given the circumstances of the murder, people may be reluctant to come forward.

"We continue to urge anyone with information, no matter how insignificant they believe it to be, to report it to police or any of our LGBT+ partners. We are particularly appealing to the two people pictured to come forward."

Derek Lee, from the Met's LGBT+ advisory group, said: "We appeal for anyone who knows anything about this horrendous crime to come forward using the many channels available.

"We are aware that, while it remains unsolved, this is causing considerable concern amongst LGBTQ+ people in Tower Hamlets and across London."