News flashback: October 1986 – Wall of silence after killing of Abubakkar Rangara

Every week the Gazette will delve into its archives to see what was happening in Hackney 30 and 60 years ago. This week police faced a wall of silence in their bid to find the killer of Abubakkar Rangara.

30 years ago:

Police faced a “wall of silence” in the hunt for the killers of a man stabbed to death in King Edward’s Road.

Abubakkar Rangara, 29, was walking with his wife Sadeja, 22, to their home in the Kingshold Estate.

A gang of five youths started following them and the couple ran to a lift in nearby Pavely House.

But the gang caught up and started punching him in the face. Sadeja rushed for help, trying to stop a white van, but returned to find her husband lying in a pool of blood.

Det Insp Robert Brown said: “The area is densely populated and there are flats overlooking the scene. There must be people who saw something. But so far they have been reluctant to come forward.”

60 years ago:

Stoke Newington Council was worried about unruly teenagers – who were studying in the library.

The boroughcouncil claimed exam students taking their own books into the library as a place to study were doing so to the exclusion of the general public.

Even with additional seating, councillors complained that the teenage tearaways were filling up the library to capacity.

Meanwhile, a 66-year-old Stamford Hill woman suffered severe head injuries, and had her left arm amputated, after being found unconcious next to the railway line near Bishopsgate.

The Gazette reported police believed she had been hit by a train.