DETECTIVES have called off an inquiry into the death of a man who is believed to have stabbed himself to death.

And it is thought the incident came just weeks after members of the man’s family were jailed for their part in a high-profile fraud case.

Three people were arrested following the discovery of the elderly man’s body on the Hill Top Estate in Heckmondwike on Sunday morning.

Police have refused to name the man or say how he died, but yesterday said the matter was not being treated as suspicious.

He has been named locally as Mohammed Khan.

Neighbours said he had lived on the street more than 10 years. He had been seen last Wednesday by neighbours, who said he ‘seemed OK’.

It is believed he was the grandfather of two men jailed in April for their part in a mortgage fraud scam.

Dewsbury-based mortgage adviser Rashid Farid, 35, who defrauded nearly £1m from Halifax Bank of Scotland Group, was convicted of conspiring to commit fraud by false representation, attempting to pervert the course of justice and money laundering.

He employed his brother Jahangir, 25, and their father Mohammed Farid, 53, who all lived at a house in Batley, with four other defendants, to launder the proceeds.

All were given jail sentences ranging from two to three-and-a-half years.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Emergency services were called at about 10am on Sunday to an address in Heckmondwike, where the dead body of a man was found.

“The matter is not being treated as suspicious.”

A spokesman for Heckmondwike Mosque said the man was Mohammed Khan and said his family were coping.

Heckmondwike councillor Steve Hall was passing the house on Hill Top shortly after the incident happened.

Yesterday he said: “It was obvious that something had happened.

“When I got home I had a call from one of the sergeants who said it was something to do with an elderly Asian man.

“I had never seen so many police in one place.

“It’s a very small council estate and they had blocked the road off leading into it.

“They had cordoned off a big piece of land behind the house and put a tent up, presumably where the body was.

“Everything is back to normal now. There are no police and there was a lad sitting on the house step as if nothing had happened.”