36-year-old Rahan Arshad has appeared in court charged with the murder of his wife and three children.
Mr Arshad was remanded in custody by Stockport magistrates to appear at Manchester Crown Court on 11 September.
He was arrested by police at Heathrow Airport after stepping off a flight from
Bangkok, Thailand.
He had been the subject of an international man hunt after the bodies of his wife, Uzma, 32, and three children, Adam, 11, Abbas, eight, and Heena, six, were discovered at their family home in Manchester.
Police believe the trio lay undiscovered at the address for four weeks.
Last month a 40-year-old man and a woman, 35, were arrested in connection with the killings. They were later released on police bail.
A MAN suspected of the brutal killing of a mother and her two children in Manchester has been captured by police.
Rahan Arshad was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport as he stepped off a flight from Thailand and whisked to a Manchester police station on suspicion of murdering his wife and three children who were found battered to death at their family home in Cheadle Hume, Manchester.
The 36-year-old taxi driver is thought to have flown to Thailand on 29 July – almost four weeks before the bodies of his wife, Uzma, 32, and three children, Henna, six, Abbas, eight, and Adam, 11, were discovered by police.
Mr Arshad had been the subject of an international police hunt after his silver BMW was found at Heathrow’s terminal 3 the day after police broke into the family home.
Detectives investigating the murders had appealed for Mr Rahan to get in touch in the hours after the discovery.
He was finally arrested at the border crossing of Padang Besar in southern Thailand when he tried to renew his visa by crossing into Malaysia briefly. Police officials said he voluntarily returned to the UK.
At a police conference, Detective Superintendent Martin Bottomley confirmed Mr Rahan’s arrest: “As you know we are investigating the murders of Uzma Rahan and her three children Adam, Abbas and Henna, whose bodies were discovered on Sunday 20th August.
“Since Monday 21st August we have been liaising with law enforcement authorities in Thailand following the discovery of a silver BMW car at Heathrow Airport that day.
“As a result of those enquiries Rahan Arshad was questioned by Thai authorities at the Thai / Malaysian border, re-entering Thailand, early on Wednesday morning, UK time.
“At 7pm, Mr Arshad voluntarily boarded a Thai Airlines flight in Bangkok to return to the UK in order to assist us with our enquiries. He landed at Heathrow Airport this morning.
“On leaving the plane, he was arrested on suspicion of the four murders and will be brought to Manchester later today, where he will be interviewed in relation to these offences.
“Uzma’s family has been kept fully aware of these developments and a further press release will be made at the appropriate time.”
Mrs Rahan came from Pakistan to marry Mr Arshad in Manchester. The family was well known locally and the children were described as lively and popular at school.
Police believe that their bodies lay for four weeks in the house in Turves Road with post mortem results revealing they all died of severe head injuries.
A statement released by Uzma’s family days after the gruesome discovery described her as a “devoted mother”.
“We would like to say that Uzma was a loving, caring and devoted mother”, the statement said.
“We’ve lost a very special member of the family. Adam, Abbas and Henna were gorgeous, intelligent and well mannered. Thinking of our four family members being murdered so violently is beyond belief.”
Rahan Arshad’s brother Raswan added: “We as a family are grieving for their loss, and their mother Uzma.
“We can deeply understand and feel the pain and grief that Uzma’s family must be going through.”
A man and a woman arrested as part of the investigation have been released on police bail.
