POLICE investigating the "shocking" murder of a building site security supervisor in North Lanarkshire have yet to establish a motive.
Mohammad Abu Sammour, 49, was found lying seriously injured at a housing development under construction near Newarthill early on Sunday.
It was believed the bloodied and beaten man was dumped from a van and left to die and was found by a passer-by.
Mr Sammour, from Caldercruix, Airdrie, was taken to University Hospital Wishaw, where he died a short time later.
His work van was seen being driven away from the scene and was later found burnt out.
Police said Mr Sammour's family had been left devastated by his death and a full report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.
Chief Inspector Mark Leonard, area commander said: "This is an absolutely shocking incident and I would like to reassure the local community that we are working with our colleagues in the Major Investigation Teams to identify the person or persons responsible for the murder of Mr Abu Sammour.
"I can understand the concerns that local people will have given the violent nature of this incident however I would like to assure them that there are additional officers working in the area providing extra patrols and I would urge anyone with any concerns to speak to these officers."
A van similar to the one found burnt out.
Officers are keen to trace a white van, which was seen driving at speed in the area before being found burnt out on wasteland in New Stevenston. It is believed the van belonged to Mr Abu Sammour.
Detective Chief Inspector David Pinkney added: "At this time the motive of the murder is unknown. However, our extensive enquiries are ongoing and we retain an open mind.
"Mr Abu Sammour's family has been left devestated, it is imperative that we trace those responsible for his death as soon as possible, and I need help from the local community of Newarthill and Holytown to achieve that."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here