Hugh Macknight Police hunting the killers of two Chinese students have raided a house doors from where the victims' bodies were found.

Hugh Macknight

Police hunting the killers of two Chinese students have raided a house doors from where the victims' bodies were found.

Detectives executed a search warrant at a house in Croydon Road in connection with the killing in Newcastle.

The mutilated bodies of Zhen Xing Yang and his girlfriend Xi Zhou, both 25, were found in separate rooms of their ground-floor flat on that road on August 9.

Police believe Mr Zhen, known as Kevin, was tortured for up to an hour before he was hacked and stabbed to death by his killers, who then turned on Xi Zhou.

The couple's cat was drowned by their killers.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "Officers executed a search warrant at 63 Croydon Road in connection with the investigation.

"No arrests were made. A number of occupants are being interviewed as potential witnesses to the inquiry."

Last week, police issued an appeal for three potential witnesses spotted outside the victims' flat less than an hour after the last time Xi Zhou was seen alive.

Internet users on UK-based Mandarin websites had identified Mr Zhen as a recruitment agent for a gambling racket which relied on the results of live Premier League football games being shown a couple of minutes later in China to beat the bookmakers.

Police became aware of Zhen Xing Yang's links to alleged passport forgery, fake visa and qualification documentation, and an internet football betting scam early in the investigation.