Bradford mother Kusama Akter, 27, was stabbed to death while pushing her baby in a pram.

A nationwide manhunt is underway for suspect Habibur Masoom, who is believed to have entered the UK from Bangladesh on a student visa.

It has since emerged that Greater Manchester Police had reported previous contact with the victim and Masum to the police watchdog IOPC.

Police hunting the suspected killer also arrested a 23-year-old man on suspicion of assisting an offender following raids at addresses in Burnley, Chester and Oldham.

Emergency services were called to the Westgate area of ​​the city center at 3.21pm on Saturday after reports a woman had been stabbed multiple times.

Despite their best efforts, Ms Ackert was pronounced dead at hospital, while her children were not injured in the incident.

CCTV soon identified Masoum as a suspect and the last confirmed sighting showed him boarding a bus in Market Street at 3.30pm before leaving at 3.42pm.

Recalling the horrific moment Ms Akter was stabbed, shop owner Geo Khan said: “I was sitting in the shop and heard screaming. I came out and tried to check for a pulse. There was no pulse.”

“There was blood on the floor and she had stab wounds on her neck,” he said.

Mr Khan added that the deceased came to his shop the day before the incident and he believed she had only been in the area a few weeks before.

“She was a very, very innocent person – she had a smile on her face,” he said.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Masum studied for a Masters in Marketing and Digital Marketing at the University of Bedfordshire between 2021 and 2023.

He reportedly received support from Samin UK Visa Support in applying for a Schengen visa after being contacted by organizer Samin Ahmed in December.

Mr Ahmed said: “I was shocked when I heard the news, he was a familiar person from my neighborhood. I didn’t know anything. I was really shocked.”

Photos of Masum’s Schengen visa were posted on Samin’s UK Visa Support Center Facebook group in January, with social media images showing him recently traveling to Barcelona.

More on this breaking news story…