A 26-year-old man has been charged with murder and robbery in connection with the death of a retailer at his store in north Birmingham.

The man from Birmingham was charged 48 hours after police began investigating the death of Suppiah Tharmaseelan on Friday night.

Tharmaseelan was in the Select Convenience Store in Kingstanding, Birmingham, also known as Haresh Superstore, when he was attacked. He was found with stab wounds by police officers responding to a 999 call and was pronounced dead at the scene. A post mortem examination is due to be carried out this week.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said: “At this stage the motive for the attack seems to be a robbery.”

According to the police, four men were seen running from the shop, on College Road, in the direction of Dovedale road. The other man and woman arrested in connection with the incident have been released on police bail. The arrests were made on Sunday morning near the border of Sutton Coldfield and Kingstanding.

This is the second murder of a retailer this year. In February, Gurmail Singh was bludgeoned to death with a wine bottle by two men during an attempted raid on his Cowcliffe Convenience Store in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The two men were sentenced to life in prison earlier this month.