A FORMER Pakistani state minister, who was arrested in the UK on sexual assault charges relating to young girls, contested an election in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) while on police bail, according to a British media report published on Wednesday.
Rukhsar Ahmed was reportedly "re-elected" in last week's PoK polls after being out of office for five years.
Ahmed was arrested at Manchester Airport in July 2024 on suspicion of rape and trafficking children in care as part of a grooming gang investigation, The Guardian 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 due to report to Greater Manchester Police under the terms of his bail last month but reportedly failed to do so.
According to the report, British police wanted to impose bail conditions restricting Ahmed's ability to travel abroad, 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 with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the party led by Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif. He served as a minister in various state governments from 2006 until losing his seat in 2021.
Last week, he was pictured on social media campaigning at various "election gatherings" in Mirpur in PoK.
The investigation relates to allegations made by several women about the 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 his police bail in Manchester within the next six weeks. If he fails to do so, police could issue a warrant for his arrest or take steps to extradite him.
Greater Manchester Police have been approached for a statement.
