Suspect detained over killing of Ravi Katharkamar, stabbed to death in robbery in London

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a shopkeeper was stabbed to death in a robbery at his newsagents in London.

Scotland Yard said a 44-year-old man was detained in the London borough of Harrow on Wednesday in relation to the death of 54-year-old Ravi Katharkamar.

Katharkamar was stabbed in the chest as he opened Marsh Food and Wine in Pinner, north-west London, on Sunday morning.

A passerby found him collapsed inside the shop and police were called. London ambulance service attended but Katharkamar was pronounced dead at the scene 45 minutes later.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ravi Katharkamar, 54, who who was stabbed to death in a robbery at his shop in Pinner. Photograph: Family handout/PA

His attacker fled with a shop till, which police are still trying to find. Officers are calling for information from people who may have seen the till discarded or know of someone using a lot of loose change. They are also seeking information about the black Vauxhall Astra in which the attacker drove away.

Describing it as a “vicious and unwarranted attack on a completely innocent man”, DCI Simon Stancombe said: “Ravi’s attacker got away with a few pounds worth of coins, but he leaves behind a family utterly devastated and a close-knit community asking who could do such a thing.”