Birmingham couple killed for gold?

The bodies of the couple were found by their police officer son on Wednesday.

Two people arrested so far are being questioned under a major investigation codenamed Operation Tiler by the West Midlands Police.

On Friary Road,where the couple lived,near the Handsworth Golf Course,four properties had been burgled over a 12-month period,reports from Birmingham said.

Detective Superintendent Richard Baker,who is leading the investigation,said gold theft was regarded as a 8220;significant line of inquiry8221;. Gold prices have risen in the credit crunch and Asian gold is the purest available.

The police said there had been a spate of gold thefts in Birmingham and the region in recent weeks.

One jeweller in Birmingham said he feared being targeted by gold thieves so much that he had stopped displaying jewellery. The owner,who did not want to be named,told the local media that said he had been robbed five times in four years,including one incident where he was followed to his house and physically attacked.

A former police officer in Birmingham told the Birmingham Mail that he believed the Kolar couple might have been targeted for their jewellery by a thief who had stolen from other homes in the area.

He said: 8220;In my experience burglars in this area target people for cash and especially jewellery because they are both easy to move on. If you are a jeweller in Birmingham8217;s Jewellery Quarter and someone walks in with a handful of gold chains,you have no way of truly establishing where they came from8221;.

He added: 8220;Asian families are particularly at risk from this sort of crime because,rightly or wrongly,it is assumed that Asian families and in particular Indian ones will have lots of jewellery.

Thieves believe this will often be high quality 24-carat gold,so it is very attractive to criminals.8221;

An Indian-origin couple living near the Kolars8217; house said they were attacked outside their home recently. Sorakhsha Ram,49,said that soon after after she met her husband,Kashaw,in their driveway two thugs jumped out of a car and demanded their car keys.

The robbers attacked him when he refused and threw his keys into a neighbour8217;s garden.

The police said the second person arrested today was 41. Both he and the previously arrested 24-year-old were being questioned. The police said that forensic post mortem examinations have been conducted,which confirmed that both the deceased died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.

Both had been struck a number of times. The reward of 10,000 pounds put up by crime-fighting charity organisation Crimestoppers continues to be available to anyone providing information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible for this crime.

Another man arrested for Birmingham murders

Another man was arrested today in connection with the twin murder of Indian-origin man Avtar Singh Kolar and his English wife in Birmingham last week,bringing the number of people arrested in the sensational case to two.

The police said the 41-year-old man from Birmingham was arrested in the early hours of today. A 24-year-old man was arrested on Friday. Both are being questioned for the murder of the couple,one of whose sons is a police officer with the West Midlands Police.

Avtar Singh Kolar,62,and Carole,58,were found dead by their son in their house in the Handsworth Wood area of Birmingham on Wednesday last,prompting a major investigation codenamed Operation Tiler.

Forensic post mortem examinations have been conducted,which confirmed that both the deceased died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head. Both had been struck a number of times.

There are reports that the couple8217;s house may have been targeted by thieves looking for gold,whose rising prices in recent months has sparked off a spate of robberies in the area. Detective Superintendent Richard Baker,who is leading the murder investigation,said: 8220;This was a horrendous attack.

We continue to follow a number of lines of enquiry and we thank those who have called us so far.

We encourage anyone with information to speak to us no matter how insignificant they feel the detail is.8221;

The reward of 10,000 pounds put up by crime-fighting charity organisation Crimestoppers continues to be available to anyone providing information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible for this crime.