Solihull double-murder suspect 'being protected' locally Published duration 29 August 2018

media caption Solihull double-murder suspect is 'being protected'

Police hunting a man suspected of murdering his ex-partner and her mother believe he is being "protected".

Janbaz Tarin, 21, is wanted after Raneem Oudeh, 22, and Khaola Saleem, 49, were stabbed in Solihull on Monday as Ms Oudeh was on the phone to police.

Independent charity Crimestoppers has now put up a £5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

image copyright West Midlands Police image caption Raneem Oudeh (left) and her mother, Khaola Saleem, were pronounced dead at the scene

Detectives believe Mr Tarin is still in the West Midlands area and that people are protecting him.

Det Insp Caroline Corfield said: "Someone out there knows where he is. Janbaz Tarin deserves no protection."

In a video released by the force, Det Supt Mark Payne appealed directly to the suspect.

"So if Mr Tarin is watching this, hand yourself in. We will find you," he said.

image copyright PA image caption Police found Ms Oudeh and Mrs Saleem fatally stabbed near their home in the early hours of Monday morning

A post-mortem examination on Tuesday found Ms Oudeh and her mother, who were born in Syria, died from multiple stab wounds.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it was investigating the circumstances of contact between police and the victims after the force referred itself.

West Midlands Police said there had been "a sequence of calls" from Ms Oudeh, who has a two-year-old son, in the hours before she and her mother were killed.

During one call "the situation quickly escalated," when Mr Tarin, who Det Supt Payne said had "a footprint in domestic violence", had arrived at the scene.

The force said it had "immediately dispatched officers to the location in Northdown Road where they arrived within six minutes".

The two women were found in the street outside their home shortly after 00:30 BST and were confirmed dead at the scene.

image copyright PA image caption Crimestoppers has offered a £5,000 reward for information that will help locate Mr Tarin

Police had responded to an earlier phone call from Ms Oudeh, although she had "moved on" when officers arrived.

Det Supt Payne said police believed she had kept moving to try to get to "a place of safety".

Mr Tarin - an Afghan national who arrived in the UK on Christmas Day in 2012 - was previously in a relationship with Ms Oudeh but is not the father of her son.

Police said several addresses in Birmingham linked to Mr Tarin had been searched, and computer equipment and mobile phones seized for examination.

The suspected murder weapon has also been recovered and a van seized for forensic examination.