Mehar Singh Kataria

Mehar Singh Kataria was beaten and stabbed to death at his home.

He had been beaten about the head with a heavy blunt instrument and once he was dead he was covered from his head to waist with a tablecloth and then stabbed in the body multiple times.

His body was found by his son at 8pm on 3 February 2006. He was last seen earlier that day by his neighbour at 9am.

It was later determined that an envelope that had £200 in it had also been stolen from his home.

It was thought that he had known his killer or killers as there was no sign of a forced entry to his home and he was not known for letting strangers into his home.

Police said that they wanted to trace two Indian men that had been seen in the road outside where Mehar Kataria lived a few times and also standing in his front garden on the day that he was killed. They were described as being in their 40s and wearing scruffy clothes and it was thought that they spoke in Punjabi.

The police said that they were interested in speaking to anyone that had seen Mehar Kataria between 8am and 8pm on 3 February 2006.

A police detective inspector said 'Mr Kataria was a security conscious man with inner and outer front doors; he would only open the doors to people he was comfortable with and who spoke his first language. There were no signs of forced entry at the house nor any further disturbance. I cannot exclude the possibility that he may have known his killer(s). Enquires have led me to believe that Mr Kataria’s killer(s) may well have been from the Asian community, possibly the Sikh community, where Mr Kataria was well known'.

He was a father of five and had thirteen grandchildren. He was a retired tailor and had lived alone after his wife died eight years earlier.