Indian-origin man convicted of drugs-related murder of ex-friend in UK

An Indian-origin man, described by UK police as a “dangerous” individual, has been convicted of the murder of a former friend due to a feud over drugs worth around 5,000 pounds.

Amraj Poonia, 27, from Horley in south-east England, was found guilty of murder at a trial at the Old Bailey court in London on Thursday.

He had already pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, a charge his 26-year-old brother Raneel Poonia was found guilty of at the end of the trial.

The Metropolitan Police said their four-year-long extensive and detailed police investigation into the murder of Mohammed Shah Subhani, 27, dates back to when he was murdered in west London and his body eventually recovered in a woodland in December 2019.

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“We have achieved justice for Shah, his family and his partner by securing these convictions against the man responsible for his cowardly murder and those who helped to dispose of his body,” said Detective Chief Inspector Vicky Tunstall.

“Amraj Poonia is a dangerous individual and I have no doubt that the streets of west London are far safer now he, and his accomplices, have been convicted – I hope that this outcome and the diligent investigation that led to their conviction improves the trust that communities can have in the Metropolitan Police,” she said.

“This has been a terrible ordeal for his family and, by listening to the evidence presented within the trial of his murder and disposal, they have been exposed to detail that no family should ever have to know about their loved ones,” she added.

The trial was told how the murder of Shah was carried out behind the doors of the Poonia family plumbing business on an industrial estate in Hounslow, west London, in May 2019.

Shah had been asked to look after a large amount of cannabis (5kg) on behalf of a local drug dealer and had given some of the drugs – around 1 kg with a street value of approximately 5,000 pounds – to his friend at the time Amraj Poonia to look after. But the latter stole the drugs instead and staged a “theft” of them from a car as a cover for this.

This missing of drugs left Shah in debt to the local drug dealer and, believing Poonia to be responsible, caused increasing animosity between the duo and threats of retribution were made.

Shah was said to have been murdered on May 7, 2019, shortly after entering Poonia’s plumbing business. Shah’s body was later kept in the boot of a car in an unknown location within Hounslow whilst Amraj Poonia and his associates planned on where and how to dispose of it, the Met Police said.

Officers conducted an extensive forensic search of the plumbing business and small samples of blood were located. These were later matched and confirmed to be that of Shah and the investigation was passed to a Homicide team of the Met’s Specialist Crime Command. The body was ultimately recovered from a rural woodland near Beaconsfield, south-east England.

“He was kind, he was helpful, and he was courageous. He was an amazing son, an amazing brother, an amazing partner and was an amazing uncle at the time. And I know had his daughter met him and known him, she would say I have the best dad ever,” Shah's sister, Iqra, said in a tribute to her late brother.

Amraj Poonia claimed that he, and he alone, had killed Shah and that this had been in self-defence. However, after hearing all of the evidence the jury found him guilty of Shah’s murder, dismissing his self-defence argument.

Besides his brother Raneel, associates Mohanad Riad, 23, and Mahamud Ismail, 26, were also found guilty of perverting the course of justice. All four men will be sentenced at the Old Bailey court in London at a later date.