Bidhya Sagar Das sought by Metropolitan police after incident in Finsbury Park that left one-year-old boy dead and twin sister critically injured

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Police are searching for a 33-year-old man in connection with the murder of a one-year-old boy in a domestic incident in Finsbury Park, north London. Bidhya Sagar Das is being sought by Met police murder investigators following the incident on Saturday that also left the victim’s twin sister critically injured.

The pair were taken to an east London hospital on Saturday night after an incident at a home on Wilberforce Road that is used as staff accommodation for a local hotel.

Neighbours said they saw a woman running into the street screaming “my kids” late on Saturday evening. Police were called at 11.10pm. The boy was pronounced dead shortly before 1am on Sunday and the girl remains in a critical condition.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bidhya Sagar Das is being sought by the Met police following the incident on Saturday night. Photograph: Metropolitan Police/PA

Police said they believe Das had been at the property where the children were discovered but left before the emergency services had arrived. They said he was of the address where the children were found.



The murder investigation was launched on Sunday, led by DCI Dave Whellams of the homicide and major crime command. Police urged members of the public to call 999 if they saw Das.

No postmortem or formal identification of the boy has yet been carried out, police said.

A police helicopter searched Finsbury Park in the early hours of Sunday morning, and officers carried out door-to-door inquiries on Wilberforce Road. Detectives were seen carrying forensic equipment into the property.



Mihai Manea, who lived on the second floor of the building, said the toddlers were twins who lived on the top floor. He said a colleague who also worked at the hotel discovered the children and was “in shock”.

“It’s really tense,” Manea said. “There’s police coming and going all the time.”

Play Video 0:46 Police appeal after one-year-old boy dies in Finsbury Park flat – video

Das worked at the nearby Pembury hotel and Central Park hotel until a couple of days ago, Manea said.

A spokesman said: “Detectives are urgently trying to trace a man who was at the flat shortly before the injured children were found but left before emergency services were called.

“The man has not been seen since this time.

“The incident is believed to be domestic. There has been no arrest at this stage and inquiries continue.”

Police were combing Finsbury Park on Sunday morning after officials confirmed the death of the boy and the condition of the girl.

The Met said: “Next of kin are aware. Formal identification awaits and a postmortem examination will be scheduled in due course.”

It added that inquiries were under way to “establish the full circumstances of the incident” and that no arrests had been made.

The National Police Air Service helicopter tweeted that it was assisting “officers searching Finsbury Park for a suspect”.



A woman living opposite the building where the children were found, who gave her name as Gui Gui, said she heard a woman shouting late on Saturday night and opened the window to offer help.

“I was watching TV,” she said. “I heard someone was shouting. She kept on shouting. I do not know what she was shouting. I opened the window and I asked her: ‘Can I help you, can I call the police for you?’

“She said: ‘My kids’.”

A police car remains parked outside the white three-storey building and neighbours said officers had been searching properties along the treelined street.



Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams, of the homicide and major crime command, said: “This is clearly a tragic incident, and our thoughts are with the family of the two young children. Despite the best efforts of medical professionals a baby boy sadly died in the early hours of this morning. A baby girl currently remains in a critical condition and is receiving specialist medical care.

“We are in the early stages of the investigation and our inquiries have led us identify Bidhya Sagar Das, who we believe was at the flat shortly before the injured children were found late on Saturday night.

“It is of paramount importance that he is located immediately and we are urgently seeking the public’s help in the hope that they will be our eyes and ears and provide us with any useful information that would assist with tracing him.”