He has been on the run for 12 years.
But the man suspected of being involved in Huddersfield’s worst-ever mass murder has been arrested in Pakistan.
And now detectives are anxious to bring 32-year-old Shahid Mohammed back to West Yorkshire to face justice for the deaths of eight people – including five children – in a house blaze on Osborne Road in Birkby in May 2002.
The Examiner can today exclusively break news of Mohammed’s detention – and over the years we have featured many appeals for information to help track the fugitive down.
Killers poured petrol through the letterbox and put a petrol bomb through the window of the Chisti family’s home at 40, Osborne Road in Birkby and then lit it.
The fire destroyed the house and claimed the lives of eight members of the same family.
Six-month-old Najeebah Nawaz, Aneesa Nawaz, two, Tayyaba Bootall, three, Ateeqa Nawaz, five, Rabiah Bootall, 10, Muhammed Ateeq-Ur-Rehman, 18, Nafeesa Aziz aged 35 were all killed that night.
Zaib-U-Nisa, 54, died in hospital a week later.
Shazad and Hussain were convicted of manslaughter while Iqbal was convicted of eight counts of murder.
But Mohammed has never faced a court. He fled while on police bail after his initial arrest and for the last dozen years police have been trying to track him down.
It was always suspected that he had managed to slip out of the UK and spend time in Pakistan.
Click here for a timeline of the events leading up to the detention of Mohammed
Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman said of Mohammed’s detention: “I am pleased and relieved for the family that this has finally happened.
“It is down to the hard work, determination and great detective work of the officers who, throughout this case, have done their best to find him.
“We must be restrained now. He needs to go through the correct process and have a fair trial.
“I hope this development will bring justice for the family.”
A police spokesman said at the time: “There is nothing to indicate the date or time the photograph was taken but it has been confirmed as Shahid Mohammed. It was seized as part of the current enquiry.”
In the same year Baroness Newlove, the Victims’ Commissoner, met members of the Chishti family to support their continual fight for justice.
She said at the time: “This case has been mentioned in the House of Commons and in my capacity as Victims’ Commissioner I wanted to see how they are feeling.
“This is an ongoing investigation and I wanted to look at how they feel the processes have helped them, what barriers they’ve got and if there’s any aspects they need help with.
“It’s very emotional for the family and we want to help them the best we can.
“The police are supporting them and trying to get the right person who we think has absconded to Pakistan. We need to see if we can raise it with the authorities in Pakistan.
“There’s no extradition agreement between the countries, so that makes it harder.
“From what I’ve seen it’s been excellent police work. The officers are very passionate – they want to get justice for the family.
“The years may have gone by but the drive and passion hasn’t. When you’re a victim of crime you feel very much on the outside, but what I can see here is real passion to get justice for this family.”
