JOIN USOne of the two persons arrested in connection with the twin murder of Indian-origin Avtar Singh Kolar and his English wife cariole Kolar in Birmingham was today released without charge, the police said.
The person released is a 41-year-old, who was arrested yesterday, while a 24-year-old suspect remains on police bail in connection with the investigation codenamed Operation Tiler.
The West Midlands Police launched the investigation on January 11 after the bodies of Carole, 58, and Avtar Kolar, 62, were found inside their home address in Handsworth Wood by their son Jason, who is a serving officer with West Midlands Police.
Following post mortem examinations, it was confirmed that the couple died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.
Both had been struck a number of times.
The reward of 10,000 pounds put up by crime-fighting charity organisation Crimestoppers continues to be available to anyone providing information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible for this crime.
One of the "significant" lines of police investigation is that the couple's house may have been targeted by gold thieves who have struck at several places in Birmingham in the recent past due to the rising price of the yellow metal.
Asian - and particularly Indian - families are known to save and regularly buy gold and ornaments as per tradition.
There was almost one burglary a day in the couple's neighbourhood in Handsworth Wood, last year, according to Home Office statistics.
On Friary Road, where the couple lived near the Handsworth Golf Course, four properties had been burgled over a 12-month period, reports from Birmingham said.
Detective Superintendent Richard Baker, who is leading the investigation, said gold theft was regarded as a "significant line of inquiry".
Gold prices have risen in the credit crunch and Asian gold is the purest available.
The police said there had been a spate of gold thefts in Birmingham and the region in recent weeks.
One jeweller in Birmingham said he feared being targeted by gold thieves so much that he had stopped displaying jewellery.
The owner, who did not want to be named, told the local media that said he had been robbed five times in four years, including one incident where he was followed to his house and physically attacked.
A former police officer in Birmingham told the Birmingham Mail that he believed the Kolar couple might have been targeted for their jewellery by a thief who had stolen from other homes in the area.
He said: "In my experience burglars in this area target people for cash and especially jewellery because they are both easy to move on.
"If you are a jeweller in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter and someone walks in with a handful of gold chains, you have no way of truly establishing where they came from".
He added: "Asian families are particularly at risk from this sort of crime because, rightly or wrongly, it is assumed that Asian families – and in particular Indian ones – will have lots of jewellery.
"Thieves believe this will often be high quality 24-carat gold, so it is very attractive to criminals".
An Indian-origin couple living near the Kolars' house said they were attacked outside their home recently.
Sorakhsha Ram, 49, said that soon after after she met her husband, Kashaw, in their driveway two thugs jumped out of a car and demanded their car keys.
The robbers attacked him when he refused and threw his keys into a neighbour's garden.