Detectives given extra time to question Burnley suspect in double murder case

The 51-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of two counts of murder, two of rape and one of arson with intent to endanger life following the deaths of Dr Saman Mir Sacharvi (49), and a girl believed to be her 14-year-old daughter, Vian Mangrio.

The bodies of the pair were at an address in Colne Road, Reedley, on Thursday.There was also evidence of smoke and fire damage inside the address.

A Home Office post-mortem on Saturday revealed Dr Sacharvi died as a result of pressure to the neck. She had also suffered an assault.

The second body has yet to be formally identified but is believed to be Miss Mangrio. The post-mortem investigation remains ongoing for her, although police can confirm she was found badly burnt inside the address.

Today, officers have been granted a Warrant of Further Detention which allows them to keep the arrested man in custody for questioning for an additional 36 hours.

Yesterday a second man who had been arrested on suspicion of the same offences was released without charge.

Det Supt Jon Holmes, Head of Major Crime at Lancashire Police, said: “Our thoughts remain with Saman and Vian’s family and we have specially-trained officers supporting them at this awful time.

“On Sunday we arrested two men and one has since been released. The second man remains in custody and today we have been granted more time to question him.

“We are continuing to ask anybody with information about this incident to get in touch with us. If you were in the area and saw something suspicion, think you have dashcam or CCTV from the area or have any other information, we would ask you to contact us straight away.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police as soon as possible through the dedicated Major Incident Portal at http://orlo.uk/CO4jV or on 101, quoting log 0429 of October 3rd.

Alternatively independent charity Crimestoppers can be reached anonymously on 0800 555 111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org.