Mahek Bukhari trial: Crash victim made over 1,700 calls to TikTok star's mother in months before death, court told
The calls between 21-year-old Saqib Hussain and 45-year-old Ansreen Bukhari, who were allegedly in an affair, were revealed as data from the phones of eight defendants were uncovered before the jury.
In a sensational revelation made during the hearing of a murder trial on Thursday (2), it was said that one of the two men who were killed in a car crash on the A46 in Leicestershire in February this year had made over 1,700 calls to TikTok star Mahek Bukhari's mother in the months ahead of the tragedy.
According to a report in LeicestershireLive, the calls between Saqib Hussain, 21, and Ansreen Bukhari, 45, who were allegedly in an affair, were revealed as data from the phones of eight defendants were uncovered before the jury.
The data were read to the court on Thursday, the fifth day of the trial at Leicester Crown Court, and specified when and from where messages were sent and calls made in the run-up to the deadly crash killing Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, also 21.
It was alleged that the defendants chased the two young men in two cars at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour and did not stop after the ill-fated men's vehicle, a silver Skoda Fabia, rammed into a central reservation and got split into two and burst into flames.
Emergency services discovered the remains of the bodies of the deceased after extinguishing the blaze and both had to be identified through dental records, the court was told on an earlier day of the trial.
According to the report, the court heard that out of 1,702 calls that Hussain made, 1,100 lasted for less than five seconds. Ansreen made around 200 calls in return with only a few going for more than three minutes. It was also said that around 80 calls were placed between him and Mahek, 23, at the same period.
Prosecutor Daren Samat took help of an analyst from Leicestershire Police to explain to the jury the significance of the phone data.
The locations of the calls made between the defendants includes areas of Leicester and Loughborough and communications between them on the night of the fatal crash.
LeicestershireLive had reported previously that all the three cars were together at 1.17 am local time, which was around 15 minutes before the accident that happened about 12 miles away on the A46 closer to the Six Hills junction.
Hussain also used Ijazuddin's mobile phone to contact Ansreen, perhaps because his battery had drained out, the court heard.
Nineteen more attempts were made but none were picked up, but a contact was made from Ansreen's mobile phone to the same number minutes later, Samat said. The time was between 1.24 am and 1.27 am.
After that, a 999 call was placed from Ijazuddin's phone, when a "sound of an impact" could be heard followed by a shout, the court was told.
The court also heard evidence from the boss of Ammeer Jamal, one of the defendants. According to the prosecution witness that spoke to the court, "I tried ringing him [on the date in question] but there was no response. I then received a call from his girlfriend.
"I was told he wouldn't be in work that day. I next saw him on the Tuesday. I spoke to him about his time-keeping.
"We spoke about bits of the incident which happened [on the A46]. I don't know the order but [he] got a call from his cousin asking him if he wanted to go out for a ride, which he did. They went to Tesco car park. They drove off and another car followed.
"They went past the Lamborghini dealership and one of the vehicles hit the car and crashed. He was in the SEAT. His cousin was in [the] driver's seat. Friend in the front and girl next to him.
"They drove up and came past the car. They carried driving on the A46 and came past the car. It was already on fire. The friend in the passenger seat had a wheel brace.
"I'm not sure if anything was done with the wheel brace. When I asked him why he didn't stop, he said he couldn't because he could feel the heat from his car."
The witness added, "Mr Jamal looked no different and seemed himself. His demeanour was no different. We worked really well together."
Jamal worked at a parts dealership in Leicester until his arrest in March this year. The witness, who worked with him for seven to eight years, told the court the duo 'had a good working relationship'.
The defendants on the trial include:
Ansreen Bukhari, (45), of George Eardley Close, Stoke
Mahek Bukhari, (23), of George Eardley Close, Stoke
Natasha Akhtar, (aged 22), of Alum Rock Road, Birmingham
Raees Jamal, (22), of Lingdale Close, Loughborough
Mohammed Patel, (20), of Braybrooke Road, Leicester
Rekan Karwan, (28), of Tomlin Road, Leicester
Sanaf Gulammustafa, (22), of Littlemore Close, Crown Hills, Leicester
Ammeer Jamal, (27), of Catherine Street, Belgrave, Leicester
A MAN has admitted killing his wife as she pushed their baby in a pram through Bradford city centre, but has denied her murder.
Habibur Masum, 26, pleaded guilty at Bradford Crown Court to manslaughter and possession of a bladed article. He denied the charge of murder. The victim, 27-year-old Kulsuma Akter, was stabbed multiple times on 6 April last year. The baby was unharmed.
Masum, of Leamington Avenue, Burnley, was remanded in custody by Justice Cotter and is due to stand trial for murder on Monday.
He also denied two charges of assault, one count of making threats to kill and one charge of stalking. During a previous hearing, the court was told those charges relate to incidents over two days in November 2023.
The stalking charge alleges Masum tracked Akter between November and April, found her location at a safe house, sent threatening messages including photos and videos, loitered near her temporary residence, and caused her alarm or distress and fear of violence.
Akter was attacked at around 15:20 BST on Westgate near Drewton Road. She later died in hospital. Masum was arrested in Aylesbury after a three-day manhunt by West Yorkshire Police.
Her mother, Monwara Begum, speaking from Bangladesh last year, said: "I am in shock. She was my youngest daughter and I adored her greatly... The only day I didn't hear from her was the day she was attacked."
By clicking the 'Subscribe’, you agree to receive our newsletter, marketing communications and industry
partners/sponsors sharing promotional product information via email and print communication from Garavi Gujarat
Publications Ltd and subsidiaries. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the
unsubscribe link in our emails. We will use your email address to personalize our communications and send you
relevant offers. Your data will be stored up to 30 days after unsubscribing.
Contact us at data@amg.biz to see how we manage and store your data.
Bags of rubbish and bins overflow on the pavement in the Selly Oak area on June 02, 2025 in Birmingham, England.(Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
MEMBERS of the Unite union voted by 97 per cent on a 75 per cent turn out in favour of continuing the industrial action in Birmingham, which began intermittently in January before becoming an all-out stoppage in March.
At the centre of the dispute is a pay row between the cash-strapped city council and workers belonging to Unite which says some staff employed by the council stand to lose £8,000 per year under a planned restructuring of the refuse service.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said a proposal by Birmingham City Council was not in line with an offer discussed in May in talks under a conciliation service.
She accused the Labour "government commissioners and the leaders of the council" of watering it down.
"It beggars belief that a Labour government and Labour council is treating these workers so disgracefully," she said. "Unite will not allow these workers to be financially ruined –- the strikes will continue for as long as it takes."
Although non-unionised workers have been collecting bins during the strike the industrial action continues to cause disruption to rubbish removal resulting in concerns about rats and public health.
The dispute in the city of over a million people, known for its industrial past and multicultural character, is an illustration of the budgetary pressures facing many other local authorities across the country.
A council spokesperson denied there had been any watering down of the deal.
"This is a service that needs to be transformed to one that citizens of Birmingham deserve and the council remains committed to resolving this dispute, the spokesperson said.
"We have made a fair and reasonable offer that we have asked Unite to put to their members and we are awaiting their response.”
Council defends ‘ambitious’ vision for city, reports LDRS
In another development, Birmingham council has defended an “ambitious” plan for the city’s future despite the vision being slammed as “devoid of reality”.
The local authority’s corporate plan sets out the priorities for Birmingham over the next three years and how it intends to overcome the issues which have recently plagued the council.
In a bid to make the city fairer, greener and healthier, the Labour-run council’s plan explores how it can tackle critical challenges such as housing need, health inequalities, unemployment and child poverty.
Bags of rubbish and bins overflow on the pavement in the Sparkbrook area on June 02, 2025 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
But the council’s vision came under fire during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (3) with Conservative group leader Robert Alden pointing to its aspiration of improving street cleaning and waste services.
He went on to say the city’s bins service was currently not operating properly as the ongoing bins strike continues to take its toll.
“This plan is devoid of the reality of the situation the council finds itself in,” he argued. “That’s a fundamental problem as to why it will fail.
“Residents expect the city to balance the books and to clean the streets – this corporate plan doesn’t do it.
Councillor Alden added: “A lot of officer time and resources have been spent producing yet more colourful, lovely dossiers to hand out and claim that the future will be different.”
Acknowledging the financial turmoil which has plagued the authority, council leader John Cotton said the Labour administration had made significant progress in “fixing the foundations”.
He continued: “Fixing those foundations is essential if we’re going to deliver on ambitions for this city – and we should make no apology for being ambitious for Birmingham and its people.
“This is exactly what this corporate plan is about – it’s about looking forward to the future.”
Cotton went on to say the plan sets out the council’s “high level ambitions” and “major targets” for the city over the next few years.
“It’s also underpinned by a lot of detailed policy and strategy that’s come before this cabinet previously,” he said.
“It’s important not to just look at one document – we need to look at this being the guiding document that governs all the other work that this council is undertaking.”
Deputy leader Coun Sharon Thompson added: “We have to be ambitious for the residents of Birmingham – that is we are committed to doing whilst also fixing some of the issues which opposition [councillors] have highlighted.
“The world is changing, innovation is coming upon us and we cannot let Birmingham be left behind.”
She added that having a Labour government working with the council would “make a difference” when it came to tackling some of the city’s most pressing issues compared to the previous 13 years.
Birmingham City Council also has plans to transform its waste collection service in a bid to boost the efficiency and reliability of bin collections.
But the bins strike dispute between itself and Unite the union remains unresolved, with striking workers raising concerns about pay while the council’s leadership has repeatedly insisted that a “fair and reasonable” offer has been made.
The all-out citywide strike has been running since March and has attracted unwanted headlines from across the world, with tales of ‘cat-sized rats’ and rubbish mountains making headlines.
(AFP and Local Democracy Reporting Service)
Keep ReadingShow less
In April, Mallya lost an appeal against a London high court bankruptcy order in a case involving over ₹11,101 crore (approx. £95.7 million) debt to lenders including the State Bank of India. (Photo: Getty Images)
FUGITIVE tycoon Vijay Mallya has said he may consider returning to India if he is assured of a fair trial.
He spoke to Raj Shamani on a four-hour-long podcast released on Thursday.
When asked if his situation worsened because he didn’t return to India, Mallya said, “If I have assurance of a fair trial and a dignified existence in India, you may be right, but I don’t.” Asked if he would consider coming back if given such an assurance, he responded, “If I am assured, absolutely, I will think about it seriously.”
He added, “There are other people who the government of India is targeting for extradition from the UK back to India in whose case, they have got a judgment from the high court of appeal that Indian detention conditions are violative of article 3 of the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) and therefore they can’t be sent back.”
On being labelled a “fugitive”, Mallya said, “Call me a fugitive for not going to India post-March (2016). I didn’t run away, I flew out of India on a prescheduled visit… fair enough, I did not return for reasons that I consider are valid… but where is the ‘chor’ (thief) coming from… where is the ‘chori’ (theft)?”
The Indian government has not responded to Mallya’s claims.
In April, Mallya lost an appeal against a London high court bankruptcy order in a case involving over ₹11,101 crore (approx. £95.7 million) debt to lenders including the State Bank of India.
In February, he moved the Karnataka High Court seeking details of loan recoveries. His legal counsel said banks had recovered ₹14,000 crore (approx. £120.7 million) despite the original dues being ₹6,200 crore (approx. £53.4 million). The court issued notices to banks and loan recovery officers.
Keep ReadingShow less
The incident occurred in Bengaluru on Wednesday, when hundreds of thousands gathered to celebrate with the RCB team, including star player Virat Kohli, after their IPL final win against Punjab Kings. (Photo: Getty Images)
INDIAN police have arrested two people, including a senior executive of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), after 11 fans died in a stampede during celebrations for the team’s first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) title, according to media reports on Friday.
The incident occurred in Bengaluru on Wednesday, when hundreds of thousands gathered to celebrate with the RCB team, including star player Virat Kohli, after their IPL final win against Punjab Kings. The stampede took place near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the team was parading the trophy.
India Today reported that Nikhil Sosale, RCB’s head of marketing, was arrested at the Bengaluru airport. The Indian Express said he was arrested along with an executive from an event management company.
The stampede has led to widespread anger. Several top police officers, including the city’s police commissioner, have been suspended. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said that “legal action has been taken against the representatives of RCB”, the event organisers, and the state’s cricket association.
A first information report (FIR), which initiates a police investigation, has been filed against them, Siddaramaiah said. Local reports stated that charges include culpable homicide not amounting to murder, among others.
There has been no comment from RCB so far.
Siddaramaiah also blamed some senior police officials. “These officers appear to be irresponsible and negligent and it has been decided to suspend them,” he said.
The victims, mostly between the ages of 14 and 29, were among the large crowds that had gathered on the streets to see the players. Siddaramaiah said that the stadium's capacity was 35,000 but “200,000–300,000 people came”.
RCB has announced financial aid of $11,655 to each of the victims' families, calling the deaths “unfortunate”. Indian media reported that the team won $2.3 million in prize money.
Virat Kohli, who top-scored in the final, said he was “at a loss for words” after the celebrations turned tragic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the incident as “absolutely heartrending”.
Deadly crowd incidents are not uncommon at large public gatherings in India, including religious events, due to safety lapses and poor crowd control.
The Hindu, in its Friday editorial, wrote, “The grim truth is that the fan, who drives the commerce of every sport, is the last priority for administrators.” It said “asphyxia was the primary cause of death besides injuries suffered in the stifling rush”.
The IPL sold its broadcast rights for five seasons in 2022 for $6.2 billion, making it one of the world’s most valuable sports leagues in terms of cost per match.
“The world’s richest cricket tournament can’t cut corners when it comes to fans’ safety,” wrote the Indian Express in its editorial. “A fitting tribute to those dead, therefore, is not mere signing a cheque but holding those in charge responsible – ensuring that heads roll, and those who dropped the ball Wednesday are made to pay.”
(With inputs from agencies)
Keep ReadingShow less
Ryanair issued a statement apologising to passengers affected by the incident
Eight passengers were injured when a Ryanair flight from Berlin to Milan encountered severe turbulence and was forced to divert to an airport in southern Germany, Bavarian police have confirmed.
The incident occurred on Wednesday evening, with the aircraft landing at Memmingen Airport, west of Munich, at 8.44pm local time (6.44pm GMT). Among those injured were a two-year-old child who suffered bruising and a woman with a head injury. Police said three individuals were taken to hospital for further treatment, while others received medical attention at the airport.
According to police, the flight was unable to land at its intended destination of Munich Airport due to poor weather conditions. The turbulence prompted the flight captain to call ahead for medical assistance, and the aircraft landed safely without further incident.
A total of 179 passengers and six crew members were on board the flight. As a precaution, all passengers were checked for injuries. The ages of those injured ranged from two to 59 years.
Ryanair issued a statement apologising to passengers affected by the incident. The airline said: “This flight from Berlin to Milan (5 June) diverted to Memmingen after experiencing severe turbulence over Germany. The captain requested medical assistance ahead of landing, and the aircraft landed normally. Ryanair sincerely apologises to passengers affected by this diversion.”
Following the landing, the Southern Bavaria Aviation Authority did not approve an onward flight on Wednesday evening. Ryanair arranged alternative transport to Milan for passengers that night and provided a replacement flight the following morning.
The airline did not confirm the cause of the turbulence but weather-related issues were cited by local authorities. The situation was handled on site by emergency responders and local officials.
The incident comes as parts of central Europe have experienced unsettled weather conditions this week, including thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.
Despite the unexpected diversion and injuries, police noted that the aircraft landed safely and that all necessary medical protocols were followed.