Harlow, Essex fire: Fresh hope for justice in murder probe as anonymous letter surfaces
Police received an anonymous letter from an author who claimed to have information about the cause of a fire that killed six family members nearly 14 years ago.
Dr Abdul Shakoor was born in Harlow, Essex, with his wife, Dr. Sabah Usmani (44) and her five children were the only survivors of the fire in which they died.
The couple’s sons, Muneeb and Rayyan, aged 9 and 6, died along with their 12-year-old sister Hira, immediately after the fire at Barn Mead.
Another son, 11-year-old Sohaib, was hospitalized and died the day the fire broke out in the early hours of October 15, 2012.
The couple’s youngest child, 3-year-old daughter Maheen, was also hospitalized but died three days later.
In a 2014 investigation, Dr. Usmani was said to have hugged Maheen to save her from the flames.
Dr., who works at the nearby Princess Alexandra Hospital. During the fire, Shakoor desperately tried to raise the alarm and save his family.
Essex Police are treating the incident as a homicide. The investigation, called Operation Shakespeare, has been going on for almost 14 years.
The force said on Thursday it had received an anonymous letter setting out “a number of details that we would very much like to move forward with”.
Police appealed for them to come forward, saying that in order to do this they would need to speak directly to the person concerned.
Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe, who led Operation Shakespeare, said: “This letter was clearly written by someone who wants this investigation to progress as much as we do.
“They clearly want Dr Shakoor to get justice for his family.
“The author talks about the ‘nightmare’ of having knowledge but not being able to share it.
“I tell that person: ‘You can share what you know and you will be treated fairly. The information you give may lead to the person or people who broke the Shakoor family being held accountable.'”
He said the investigation team was “committed to providing answers to Dr Shakoor”.
“He lived for so long with questions about how he lost his family,” he said.
“I would appeal to anyone with information about what happened at Barn Mead, Harlow, in October 2012 to come forward.”
In 2014, a coroner issued an open conclusion on the case, saying there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the deaths were definitely the result of unlawful killing or accident.
Coroner Caroline Beasley Murray said “all the pieces of the puzzle are not there yet.”
Essex Police said the family were asleep in their terraced house at 1.40am when the fire spread downstairs.
At the same time, a silver Ford Focus car was set on fire near the house.
The house was soon filled with flames and smoke.
An Essex Police spokesman said: “To date, no one has been held responsible, but our work has continued with more than 70 officers and staff focusing on the incident and the circumstances surrounding it, with around 500 people coming forward to give witness statements and around 2,000 items examined.
“We are now asking the author of the letter sent to us to come forward and speak to us directly.”
Police have asked anyone with information to share it on their public online portal about the major incident at mipp.police.uk/operation/4201020112H31-PO3.
