Murder fear for missing Asian millionaire and family

Onkar Verma used to speak to his sister, Nancy, and her millionaire husband, Amarjit Chohan, every day from New Zealand until contact with the family suddenly stopped eight weeks ago.

Mr Verma's concern for the safety of his sister, 25, Mr Chohan, 46, their two sons and his mother grew after he contacted Scotland Yard and discovered that their home in west London was empty.

Worry turned to fear when Mr Verma flew to London and walked into the millionaire's home to discover nothing had been taken. Laundered clothes were left in the washing machine and spin-dryer, while the children's toys, including a treasured Thomas the Tank Engine model, were strewn around the three-bedroom bungalow, with baby-feeding bottles. Clothes and suitcases were in the wardrobes.

"There was no sign of a struggle – it just looked like they had left in a rush," said Mr Verma. "One thing is sure, that the family has left their home at very short notice."

The missing persons inquiry has since been upgraded and a team of detectives from the serious crime directorate, which investigates murders, has taken over the investigation. But as the days go by – the family were last seen on 16 February – Mr Verma fears that the mystery could soon become a murder inquiry.

The police are particularly concerned because of the ages of the two boys; Ravinder is three months and Devinder 18 months. Detectives are investigating leads and theories including a suggestion that Mr Chohan and his family have fallen foul of a criminal gang, or are on the run because of money problems. Mr Chohan owns CIBA Freight, a fruit and vegetable distribution company in west London with an annual turnover of £4m.

Back at the Chohan home in Hounslow, Mr Verma, 28, can do nothing but wait. He said: "I'm desperate. I can't work out what has happened, the way they have just disappeared is so strange and out of character. There is no explanation as to why they have just vanished.

"I have a family in New Zealand and I don't know what has happened to my sister and her family. I feel very depressed about the whole thing."

He said it was particularly perplexing because the Chohan family and his mother, Charanjit Kaur, 51, had disappeared five days before he was due to visit them in London with his wife and two young children.

"The whole family was overjoyed that we were all meeting again. They were going to pick us up from Heathrow – it was all arranged. I am very close to my sister and talk to her on the phone three or four times every day. She seemed very happy. Amarjit used to call me about once a day as well – we were close as well.''

He last spoke to his sister on 15 February. Four days later he contacted Scotland Yard and travelled to London on 5 March.

Police discovered that Nancy Chohan, her mother, and the two boys were last seen at their home on 16 February. Mr Chohan was seen on the same day driving his blue Ford Escort – registration S840 LJH – in Wiltshire and Hampshire. On 21 February the vehicle, occupied by two unknown men, one black and one white, was involved in an accident but has not been seen since.

On 24 March, a typewritten letter with a postmark from Calais purporting to be from Mr Chohan was sent to his workplace saying that the family were in France and intended to go to India. But police found that Mr and Mrs Chohan's passports were being held by the Home Office. Mr Chohan owns five properties worth about £2.5m but his home is modest for a rich man. The brick bungalow, worth an estimated £260,000, has rotting window frames and the furniture and fittings are not lavish.

But according to Mr Verma, who works in the textile industry, that was part of his brother-in-law's style.

"The family had a modest lifestyle. He could have driven a Mercedes or a BMW, but he chose to drive an old Escort. He was a simple person," he said. He dismisses the idea that Mr Chohan had decided to return to India. "Why should he go back there, leaving a business worth millions that he started from scratch?''

Police are investigating Mr Chohan's business activities and associates and have contacted the Indian authorities and Interpol. As the weeks go by with no sign of the family it becomes more likely that something sinister has happened.