One of Europe’s most wanted men, suspected of being the mastermind in the mistaken identity killing of a schoolboy, has been to many countries while on the run, it has emerged.
Mohammed Ali Ege is wanted by police in connection with Aamir Siddiqi’s murder.
Two hitmen were convicted of the 17-year-old’s murder in a killing for hire which went wrong at his Cardiff home in front of his parents in 2010.
South Wales Police said his hunt remains a priority.
After escaping custody in India five years ago Mohammed Ali Ege is thought to have travelled across three continents.
But the fugitive known as Wales’ most wanted man is still at large despite police appeals after fleeing capture in 2017 as he awaited extradition.
Aamir’s sister said the family “won’t rest easy” until the 44-year-old “faces justice”.
Aamir believed he was opening the door to a teacher in April 2010 when he was stabbed to death in a frenzied drug-fuelled attack by contract killers Jason Richards and Ben Hope.
They burst screeching into Aamir’s home wearing balaclavas, and stabbed him in the hallway. His parents were injured as they fought the attackers in vain as they tried to save their son.
- How error led to tragic Aamir murder
- Wrong-house murder ‘an open wound’ for family
- On-the-run murder suspect ‘getting cash’
The two heroin addicts were paid £1,000 to kill an innocent businessman and father-of-four who lived in a neighbouring street in the Roath area of Cardiff – but they went to the wrong house and killed Aamir.
Both hitmen were given a minimum of 40 years in prison each, but the man accused of hiring them was Mohammed Ali Ege, who a court heard was angry over a collapsed property deal.
Five months after Aamir’s murder, South Wales Police offered a £10,000 reward for information on his whereabouts.
He was arrested in India in October 2011 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.
But after being taken to court in April 2017 to await extradition, he escaped from Indian police at a New Delhi railway station after removing a grill from a toilet window.
Now Miriam Siddiqi, Aamir’s older sister has shed fresh light on the “multiple countries” he is believed to have travelled to after escaping Indian authorities.
The Siddiqi family has been receiving updates from detectives.
“He’s a man of means, he’s a man of power and to be able to evade police for so many years, you cannot do that alone just by having a few false passports,” said Ms Siddiqi.
“You need to be able to have a network that supports you and it felt as if he was using that time very wisely.
“When he escaped from India he left the country very quickly”.
Ms Siddiqi said he was last thought to be in the Middle East and there were “recent updates” on the effort to make him face justice.
“I know that for a fact he travelled to multiple countries before we’ve heard that he’s in Dubai,” she said.
She said he is believed to have travelled to Sri Lanka, and several countries in Africa, including Morocco or Tunisia, before eventually travelling to Dubai, where he was thought to have been as recently as last year.
“He’s still at large, he’s still living some sort of life,” she said.
She said detectives believed as recently as last year that he was in Dubai.
She said: “I know that he hasn’t stayed in one place for very long”.
Mohammed Ali Ege was born in Dubai in October 1977, and later settled in Wales.
He is known to have used different names, identities and passports.
In 2019 South Wales Police said they believed he may have been receiving financial support from within Wales.
Officers searched several addresses in Cardiff at the time.
South Wales Police said it “continues to work with the National Crime Agency and international law enforcement agencies to trace Mohammed Ali Ege and return him to the UK”.
In a statement, the force said: “From our ongoing investigation to trace him we know that he has travelled”.
It added: “His current whereabouts remain unknown but if and when Mohammed Ali Ege is arrested anywhere in the world, current arrangements are in place to ensure that South Wales Police would be notified immediately.”
Det Insp Stuart Wales from the force’s Major Crime Investigations Team said: “Nearly 12 years may have passed but until Mohammed Ali Ege is located and brought back to the UK, this remains a live and priority investigation for South Wales Police.”.
Ms Siddiqi has praised the work of Welsh detectives, but said she was “frustrated” by elements of the international appeal for Mr Ege.
She has criticised the fact that there is no public appeal from the UK for him on the global police agency, Interpol’s ‘wanted person’ list.
There is a public Interpol appeal from Indian Police, known as a public facing red notice, but that is for passport and forgery charges he faces in India.
She said: “Maybe this has been a missed opportunity…
“Had it been on there I don’t know what the results could have been, could he have been in the UK by now?”
BBC Wales understands a red notice from South Wales Police does exist, and has been shared with police forces, but has not been made public.
However, Ms Siddiqi believes this should be made public given how far Mohammed Ali Ege is said to have travelled, and how long he has managed to evade police.
South Wales Police said: “Red notice status is a matter for the Home Office and Interpol”.
Det Insp Wales added: “There are numerous appeals for information in relation to Mohammed Ali Ege on Interpol, the Major Investigation Public Portal, Crimestoppers, the South Wales Police website and many local, national and international media reports.”.
Interpol said that “every red notice request is checked by a specialised task force to ensure it is compliant” and added that the “review takes into account information available at the time of publication”.
The Home Office said: “We can’t comment on individual Interpol red notices.”
Ms Siddiqi said: “It is important that you find him – he has the most serious charges waiting for him in the UK.”
She said her family would “forever be indebted to South Wales Police” for catching Aamir’s killers, but the only way her parents “will be able to rest easy in their lifetime” is if Mr Ege faces justice in Wales.
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop grieving because I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving Aamir.”
In a direct appeal to Mr Ege, she said: “If he had no involvement in this, tell us that you didn’t.
“My parents are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, my parents suffer from trauma and they have to live with that for the rest of their lives.”
Add Comment