The second anniversary of an unsolved murder case has promoted police to appeal for witnesses and offer a £20,000 reward for anyone providing information that leads to a conviction of the person or persons responsible.
Of Turkish origin, businessman Cafer Aslan, who ran a venue called Yavruvatan Sports Club in Edmonton, North London, was aged 54 when he was gunned down near his place of work on Wednesday, 23 August 2017.
According to press reports at the time, Mr Aslan was on his way home after finishing work when the incident occurred. After saying goodbye to his business partner and customers, he walked towards his car parked nearby when a gunman or gunmen opened fire.
Police on a routine patrol in Enfield were alerted by a member of the public at a little after 9pm that they had found a man suffering from gunshot injuries. Despite the best efforts of emergency services who rushed to Westminster Road at the junction with Bounces Road, where Mr Aslan had collapsed, he was sadly pronounced dead at the scene a half hour later.
A post-mortem examination held at Haringey Mortuary on 25 August 2017 gave the cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds.
A murder investigation was launched by the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command.
A day after the fatal shooting two men, one aged 29, the other 27, were arrested on suspicion of murder. Both have since been released with no further action.
Leading the investigation, Detective Inspector Tony Kirk said: “Despite the passing of time, we continue to appeal for information to identify, apprehend and convict those responsible for the shots that ended Mr Aslan’s life.
“We are releasing an image of a person seen in the area at the time of the shooting that we are very keen to identify.
“We have also released a CCTV image of the vehicle used by the suspect, a Grey Audi Q5, registered in 2015.
“We believe that the car was stolen in Sussex several months before the shooting and was stored somewhere until it was used in the murder. It was displaying stolen number plates linking it to South East London. It was burnt out just forty minutes after the shooting in the Forty Hill Area of Enfield.
“With that in mind, we are offering a police reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for murdering Cafer Aslan in the amount of £20,000. I hope that two years having gone by, will give someone the confidence to now come forward.
“If you know who the killers are, have information that could lead to their identification or can assist in identifying the person in the image please make the call – help us remove a dangerous, violent individual from the community.
“I urge anyone who believes they might have information to come forward, no matter how insignificant it may seem, what you know could prove vital for our investigation.”
Detectives retain an open mind regarding the motive for the murder.
Any witnesses, or anyone with any information, can contact the incident room on 020 8345 3985, on 101 or Tweet @MetCC.
To give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.
