Baljinder Matharu, whose father was murdered by robbers who tried to break into his van, at the media conference in London. A Telegraph picture

London, Jan. 18: An Indian woman broke down today at a police media conference at which she appealed for information on her father’s murder.

Balbir Matharu, 54, was killed last week in Stratford, east London, when he intercepted two men trying to steal a ?70 stereo from his parked Mercedes van.

As the robbers raced away in their green Ford Mondeo car, they dragged the father of two under their car. Matharu died shortly afterwards in hospital. His daughter, Baljinder, 28, who had been one of the first to discover her dying father, sobbed as she spoke about her father’s murder.

Balbir, a Punjabi immigrant who had been happily married to his wife, Sukhvinder, for 30 years, had been helping out in a double glazing firm run by his son, Inderjit, 25, who was in India at the time but has since rushed back to London. “My dad was a hard working, gentle and caring man who lived and died for his family,” said Baljinder, as she was comforted by relatives and senior police officers today.

“My mother, brother and I will miss him terribly,” she added.

“We cannot understand why this happened to him or what made someone do this to him. We hope anyone who knows who has done this will contact the police and tell them everything they know.”

She went on: “We are devastated and hope that this murder can be solved. Please, if you are involved, consider our feelings and come forward and contact the police.”

Her father worked seven days a week and had devoted himself to providing a comfortable future for his family, she said. Her mother was in “a terrible state” and was struggling to come to terms with what has happened.

Baljinder spoke of the horror of finding her father lying still in the road.

“I would not wish that on anyone,” she said. “Seeing him lying there and not being able to do anything.”

This is one of many incidents which have occurred in recent years involving small Indian businessmen, who are prepared to risk their lives to protect their property, and angry young men from other cultures who are both jealous of the economic success of Indians and determined to prey on them.

Police, who are much more sensitive these days to crimes in which Indians are the victims, appear to be giving high priority to tracking down Matharu’s killers.

Detective Chief Inspector John Macdonald, who is heading the investigation, described Matharu as a “family man, much loved by his wife, son and daughter”.

“Balbir Matharu could have been the father or brother of any of us and he was killed over a ?70 radio,” he said.

“The way they drove off without stopping or checking his condition shows they have no value for human life and they have caused an immense amount of grief for a lot of people. “There is a high probability in this case that since it was a robbery gone wrong, the killers will be caught and given long prison sentences.