Armed police storm Burnley homes as manhunt for married social influencer

Armed police storm Burnley homes as manhunt for married social influencer suspected of the murder of mother, 27, stabbed to death in front of her baby in Bradford intensifies

Armed police have raided two houses during their hunt for a Bangladeshi student ‘influencer’ wanted over the murder of a mother who was stabbed to death beside her baby.

Habibur Masum, who lives in Oldham and is known to the victim, remains at large and members of the public are being urged ‘not to approach’ him but ‘call 999 immediately’.

The married 25-year-old father is wanted over a shocking daylight attack in Bradford on Saturday which saw the 27-year-old victim ambushed while pushing her five-month-old son in a buggy during a shopping trip.

Officers were seen storming a housing association property an hour’s drive away in Burnley as part of their hunt for Masum at around noon yesterday, with officers seen leading away a man and a woman.

One neighbour said: ‘The riot vans pulled up and armed police jumped out. They were everywhere. A little while afterwards, a lady and an elderly gentleman were taken out of the house by police.’

Forensic officers arrived at the property in the early hours of this morning and have been seen searching the house and garden before taking away evidence in plastic bags. They also used cameras to look inside the gutters.

At the same time as the first raid, police then entered a semi-detached home in Burley after discovering Masum had links to the family living there. A witness said: ‘Armed police went in first. There were a lot of police here. ‘I don’t think they found anything or anyone.’

Horrific CCTV from Saturday’s attack shows the knifeman plunging his weapon into the victim’s neck. Days before, Masum had shared a clip in which two characters described how a man had ‘lost’ his bride during a walk.

Masum, who is from the city of Sylhet in eastern Bangladesh, studied for a masters in digital marketing at the University of Bedfordshire, and photos have emerged showing him giving a peace sign at his graduation and dancing at an event last year.

The suspect appears to have been trying to carve out a career as an influencer, sharing travel vlogs of his ‘adventures’ and life in the UK to his 14 YouTube subscribers.

One post shows him admiring the wide range of Bangladeshi made clothes in Primark before trying on a range of winter jumpers. He then films a display showing children’s clothes on offer and leaves with two full bags. In another video from January, Masum is seen filming himself walking through a housing estate as snow falls down. He warns his followers who are new to the UK not too ‘stay out in the cold too long’ as they could get chest problems.

He has also shared clips to his 4,300 followers on Facebook telling them how to prepare a hospital bag for ‘your newborn baby’. Another showed him setting up a child’s cot.

Online, Masum presents an image of himself as an enthusiastic traveller who enjoys discovering new cultures.

On his LinkedIn he describes himself as an ‘adventure lover’ and warns ‘toxic people to stay away’ from him.

A source, who described himself as a friend of Masum’s, told MailOnline that he had come to the UK from Bangladesh two years ago to study.

He said the suspect was married, had been living in Oldham and had wanted to go travelling across Europe.

Just days ago the suspected attacker had shared a video on his YouTube channel, vlogging his trip from Manchester to Barcelona.

The wannabe influencer captured his trip from the moment he boarded the Ryanair flight to landing in the Spanish city, before encouraging his 14 subscribers to continue following for more upcoming videos.

Masum’s friend, who works at the visa company that helped him get a Schengen visa to travel countries in Europe, said last night that he was ‘completely shocked’ by the news.