Police search home over 1994 taxi driver murder

Police have searched a home in Nottingham for ammunition in connection with the murder of a taxi driver 31 years ago.

Ethsham Ul-Haq Ghafoor - known to friends and family as Shami - was shot dead in his car in the early hours of 22 November 1994.

The 26-year-old, who was expecting a baby daughter at the time, was discovered by a milkman at Lambley Lane Playing Fields in Gedling, Nottinghamshire, with his hands tied and bound to the steering wheel.

Nottinghamshire Police, which announced last year it was reinvestigating the murder, said it received information there could be evidence in the property, in Sneinton, but that no-one living at the address is connected to the murder.

In November 2024, the force said five people were arrested on suspicion of murder in the Sneinton and Bakersfield areas.

The four men arrested - aged 64, 57, 52, 51 - and a 47-year-old woman have been released on bail pending further inquiries.

Another 43-year-old man from the Sneinton area was arrested on suspicion of murder a month later. He has also been released on bail pending further inquiries, the force added.

Police said a number of lines of inquiry were still being pursued, as well as "further forensic opportunities from the scene of the crime".

Det Ch Insp Clare Dean, who has been leading the investigation, said the weapon used to kill Mr Ghafoor was never recovered.

"However, we are following a number of leads around the ammunition used to take his life and therefore have carried out a warrant at an address in the Sneinton area," she said.

"Unfortunately, we can't go into lots of detail in order to protect the integrity of the investigation but we are looking for ammunition."

The force added there would be an increased police presence in the area while a "thorough search" of the property was under way, including in the roof space.

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