Arrests Over Brutal Park Murder

Six arrests have been made in relation to the brutal murder of 17-year-old Amar Aslam, whose battered body was found in a park in West Yorkshire on Sunday evening.

Five youths - aged from 12 to 15 - and a 20-year-old man have all been arrested in connection with the death, West Yorkshire Police have revealed.

The body of Amar was found by two passers-by in Crow Nest Park, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire at 7.10pm, Sunday. An ambulance was called to the park, but he was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.

A police spokesperson said the post mortem revealed Amar had died of injuries as a result of a "sustained and brutal attack". Meanwhile, suggestions that the death was linked to a gang-fight are being investigated by police.

Dewsbury MP Shahid Malik said it is unlikely the attack was race-related, as the three arrested youths were all Asian.

He went on to criticise the "culture of violence" many youngsters become trapped in, and called for a "change in society" after the killing.

"We often band together these terrible attacks as being racially motivated when the reality is that ultimately, they are just about young people," Mr Malik said.

"More often than not it is not about race, it is about young people who have got involved in a culture where they feel violence is acceptable, either as an offence or in defence.

"We have to get the message across that violence is not acceptable either way."

He added: "At the moment I do not think the law is being applied as it might; I do not think harsh sentences are being imposed."

(JM)