Two men have been convicted over the murder of father-of-four Mohammed Haroon Zeb in a drive-by shooting in Dudley.
Officers viewed thousands of hours of CCTV, used forensics, scoured social media and phone records to connect Hassan Tasleem and Gurdeep Sandhu to the planned killing.
The 39-year-old was shot in the head in Queens Cross at just after 12.30am on 31 January, 2021, as the culmination of a feud between two families.
The taxi firm manager, known as Haroon, had only just pulled up outside his home and he sadly died in hospital from his injuries later that day.
Police understand the fatal blow came from a lethal revolver – and was one of a number of shots fired by a passenger of a Volkswagen Golf – which then drove off. The weapon is still to be recovered.
WMP detectives carried out extensive enquiries in the pursuit of justice and our evidence was that the gun was in the hands of Hassan Tasleem while Gurdeep Sandhu was the driver of the car and involved in the plot. The vehicle was on false plates and went off the radar until it was later recovered in Telford.
The killing was part of an ongoing feud between families dating back to at least 2018, including men being mown down by cars and a man stabbed to death. A man was jailed over that murder in 2019.
Mr Zeb was not believed to have been actively involved in the feud, but a follower of what was going on, and the reason he was specifically targeted remains unknown.
Tasleem, 25, of Richmond Road, Dudley, and Sandhu, 25, of Blowers Green Road, Dudley, were convicted of murder, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and perverting the course of justice following a three-month trial at Loughborough Crown Court.
A third man Shamraz Ali, 21, of Tanfield Road; Dudley, was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice. All three have been remanded into custody and will be sentenced at a later date.
Following the convictions, Mr Zeb’s family said: “For nearly two years, we as a family have struggled to accept the loss of our Haroon. We thank the police for their tireless work.”
This was a tragic killing which understandably caused concern within the community and we’ve been working to ensure there hasn’t been, and won’t be, a repeat.
Detective Superintendent Jim Munro, who led the murder investigation, said: “This was a carefully planned killing, and children have lost their father forever. Nothing can ever take away that pain.
“We can only hope these convictions will take some dangerous men off the streets and the ongoing police work will bring an end to such violence. We’re grateful to the Dudley community who supported us during this investigation.”