UK Police Investigating Possibility of Race Motive in Attack on Indian Students

International International News

Posted by AI on 2025-09-03 07:09:21 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-06-27 07:56:05

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Two Indian students celebrating the Ganesh Chaturthi festival were killed in a horrific hit-and-run accident in north-west England on Sunday, with local police now investigating possible racial motivations behind the attack.

The victims, Gopichand Batamekala and Manohar Sabbani, had taken part in the traditional Ganesh immersion procession through the centre of Preston, and were walking back to their car when they were attacked.

The driver of the car that hit them drove away from the scene of the crime, but was later arrested along with another man, who was in the car with him. Both men are also of Indian descent.

Lancashire Police have now announced that they are investigating the possibility of a "hate motive" behind the attack on the two students.

"We have established that a Punto taxi, driven by Gopichand Batamekala, was involved in a collision with two men who were walking on Deepdale Road at the time," Lancashire Police said in a statement.

"We believe that Manohar Sabbani was one of the men walking on the road, and that he has subsequently died as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.

"We are currently keeping an open mind as to the exact circumstances of the incident, and are working to establish exactly what happened and why," the statement added. "We are also aware of some allegations that race could have been a motive for this attack. We take these matters incredibly seriously and, whilst we have not ruled anything out, we are currently not treating it as a hate crime."

The police have also appealed to members of the public to come forward with any valuable information or footage from the scene of the crime.

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