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A bloodied bag may hold the key to finding the killer of Auckland taxi driver Hiren Mohini.
Mohini died early on Sunday morning.
He was stabbed several times by a passenger who fled near View Rd in the Auckland suburb of Mt Eden.
The man heading the 40-strong police inquiry team, Detective Senior Sergeant Hywel Jones, says a member of the public found the bag near where Mohini died and handed it to police.
The royal blue bag has a black synthetic fabric shoulder strap. A white logo read "DA" above the words "Dicon Aibi".
"It's a medium-sized shoulder bag which also has a small handle of the same royal blue fabric on it and it was found in the View Rd area by a resident who called police on Monday night," Jones says.
"The logo is unusual and the bag itself does not belong to the resident or any of the immediate neighbours. Add to that the presence of the blood on it and I'd say it's fairly important we track down whoever left it in the neighbourhood or someone who knows who did."
Jones says police still have no idea of what motivated what they call a "frenzied" knife attack that resulted in Mohini's death, but they have no reason to believe at this stage that it was robbery.
"He died at the end of a paltry $15.20 unpaid fare after about an eight-minute journey from the city centre to Mt Eden.
"We're keen to hear from anyone who might have seen a person carrying the bag we've recovered either in the city prior to or, getting into his Auckland Co-op taxi near Sky City, at about 1.12am on Sunday."
A knife believed to have been used in the attack is being forensically examined and Jones says some clothing may have been dumped or washing has gone missing off residents' clothes lines.
"We need to hear about anything unusual, no matter how seemingly insignificant, which might help us track down whoever killed Mr Mohini."
He says anyone with information can call the hotline on 0800 444 014 or the anonymous Crimestoppers number, 0800 555 111.
