Crime Immemorial

Thirty-three-year-old Abdul Maneer was born in Pakistan, but eventually made his way to the United Kingdom. By 1992, he was working as a waiter at the Lomond Tandoori, a modest Asian restaurant on Sinclair Street in the quaint seaside town of Helensburgh, Argyll, Scotland. Recently, he had been staying with a fellow worker at the restaurant, splitting his time between Hamilton in Lanarkshire and Middlesbrough in England.

His past, however, cast a longer shadow. In the mid-1980s, Abdul was convicted of possessing heroin and sentenced to seven years in prison, serving part of his term in England before his release in October 1991. He had previously lived in Glasgow’s Sighthill area and the English Midlands, piecing together a new start after incarceration. Friends and colleagues described him as a quiet man trying to rebuild, but police later speculated that his drug-related history might have followed him to Helensburgh.

It was around six twenty p.m. on Tuesday, August 4th, 1992, when Abdul was attacked outside the restaurant. Witnesses later recalled seeing him collapse, bleeding profusely from multiple stab wounds. He was rushed to Vale of Leven Hospital in nearby Alexandria but was pronounced dead on arrival. The seaside town, known for its Victorian architecture and proximity to Loch Lomond, was buzzing with tourists, yet no one came forward with a clear account of the assailant or assailants.

The crime scene on Sinclair Street, a short walk from Helensburgh’s pier and car park, suggested a sudden and savage assault. Abdul had likely just finished a shift or stepped out for a break when he was set upon. The weapon, a knife, has never been recovered, and the attack appeared opportunistic, with no signs of a prolonged struggle reported in the immediate vicinity. It also appeared that the attacker(s) had attempted to cut the victim open.

In the hours following the discovery, police faced an immediate hurdle: identifying the victim. Dunbartonshire officers released Abdul Maneer’s name publicly on the evening of August 5th, appealing for anyone who knew him to come forward. Tracing next of kin proved difficult; Abdul had limited family ties in the UK, and notifications to Pakistan were complicated by distance and bureaucracy. It wasn’t until days later that formal identification was confirmed, allowing the investigation to deepen.

Detective Superintendent Jack Baird led the inquiry out of Dumbarton, launching a multifaceted probe that quickly expanded beyond Helensburgh. By mid-September 1992, eleven weeks after the murder, police issued fresh appeals, broadcasting in Punjabi through WPC Mabel Dall of Glasgow’s Maryhill Female and Child Unit to reach Abdul’s community. They urged the public to fill gaps in the victim’s background, particularly his movements in the weeks leading up to his death.

Key to the appeals were descriptions of four persons of interest sighted near the scene between five thirty and six thirty p.m. Three were Asian men: one in his thirties, with a medium build and black hair, wearing a white shirt, black trousers, a red or pink bow tie, and a wine or brown bomber jacket, seen near Sinclair Street and West Clyde Street at six thirty p.m. Another, similar age but heavily built with a round face and moustache, wearing a black shirt, was observed in a car on Sinclair Street around five thirty to five forty-five p.m. A third, about five feet ten inches, with a medium build, was wearing a white shirt, black trousers, a maroon bow tie, and a tan bomber jacket, and was spotted walking down Sinclair Street between five thirty and six p.m. with another Asian male.

The fourth person of interest was a white man in his twenties, standing five feet seven inches, with dark hair, who was seen walking from the restaurant toward the pier car park at around six p.m. Composite sketches of these individuals, approved by the Crown Office, were widely circulated.

Investigators also zeroed in on vehicles: a two-tone grey/silver car with distinctive fins (possibly a Ford Zephyr) believed to be a getaway vehicle, and a black tour bus marked with “BAN” or “Van” (potentially a Dutch operator’s name) parked in the pier car park around six thirty p.m. The bus, carrying rucksacks in the back window and featuring a rear toilet, was thought to be en route to or from the West Highlands. Baird made direct pleas to hoteliers, tour operators, and tourists in the region, hoping someone recalled the group or overheard conversations.

No clear motive emerged, leaving detectives to consider grim possibilities. Abdul Maneer’s prior heroin conviction fueled speculation of a revenge attack tied to the drug trade, perhaps a debt unpaid or a grudge from his prison days. The fact that the perpetrators had perhaps been attempting to disembowel him bolstered this hypothesis somewhat, as they may have believed he was carrying drugs.

Others whispered of a domestic dispute, though no evidence supported this. Baird was cautious, noting “ongoing lines of inquiry including drug connections,” but refusing to speculate publicly.

The case file grew thick with interviews and tips, but none cracked it. Helensburgh’s summer visitors dispersed, and witnesses faded into memory.

As of 2025, Abdul Maneer’s murder stands among over 1,200 unresolved homicides in Police Scotland’s archives. Recent reviews of Scotland’s “uncrackable” gangland and street crimes have revisited the stabbing, highlighting it alongside other 1990s murders, but no breakthroughs have surfaced.