London: A former Pakistani state minister was arrested on sexual assault charges relating to young girls in the UK, but he contested an election in PoK while on police bail, according to a British media report on Wednesday. Rukhsar Ahmed was reportedly “re-elected” in the PoK polls last week, after being out of office for five years.
Ahmed was arrested at Manchester Airport back in July 2024 on suspicion of rape and trafficking children in care as part of a grooming gang scandal, The Guardian newspaper reported. “Ahmed was arrested at Manchester airport on 18 July 2024 in relation to past child sexual abuse allegations linked to the Rusholme area of the city, where he lived for many years,” the report said.
The 62-year-old was expected to report to the Greater Manchester Police under his bail conditions last month, but reportedly failed to oblige.
According to the UK media report, British police wanted to restrict Ahmed’s ability to travel abroad as part of his bail conditions but a court rejected the tougher measures two years ago.
The report said: “Detectives questioned Ahmed in July 2024 about allegations from at least two women who claimed that Ahmed was involved in raping and trafficking them when they were young girls.”
“It is understood that detectives learned about Ahmed’s involvement in Pakistani politics when he was in custody for questioning,” it added.
Ahmed is affiliated to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the party to which Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif belongs. He was a minister in various state governments from 2006, until he lost his seat in 2021.
Last week, he was pictured on social media campaigning at various “election gatherings” in PoK’s Mirpur.
The ongoing investigation against the politician and businessman relates to allegations from several women about sexual abuse of children at care homes in the early 1990s, when Ahmed was in his late 20s.
The newspaper reported that Ahmed is expected to answer police bail in the next six weeks in Manchester, failing which police could issue a warrant for his arrest or take steps to extradite him.
Greater Manchester Police have been approached for a statement.
