A man accused of being part of a group of Asian men who turned teenage girls into “sex slaves” told police that two of his co-defendants were “gangsters”, a jury heard today.
Mushtaq Ahmed told officers he was afraid of Mohammed Zahid – a fellow market trader known as Boss Man or Knickerman because he sold lingerie from his stall – and Kasir Bashir, who was also a stallholder.
The claim was put to jurors as a prosecutor read out summaries of police interviews with the eight defendants who allegedly abused two victims in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
Some men told police the girls had made the allegations to get £30,000 compensation per conviction, or claimed they had been 'stitched together', the court heard.
Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court was previously told that Zahid was the only defendant who abused both girls – who did not know each other – after meeting them in his 40s.
Prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC said he was “at the center of what happened to the girls” during three years of abuse starting when they were all 13. He gave them food, alcohol and underwear on three occasions in exchange for sex for himself and other Asian men in Rochdale.
The prosecutor told how one of the alleged victims was abused by Zahid, now 64, and Ahmed in the “grim, cold and dark” basement of a clothing store that Ahmed also ran.
He said the pair showed 'total contempt' towards the girl, who was also allegedly abused by the men and Bashir at another address.
Mohammed Zahid allegedly raped and sexually assaulted two teenage girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, after meeting the victims when he was in his 40s, a court has heard
Zahid (seen in court last week) was known as The Knickerman because he sold lingerie in the market and allegedly gave free underwear to his alleged victims
Mushtaq Ahmed, 66, from Oldham, is charged with four counts of rape, four counts of indecency with a child and soliciting a girl for unlawful sex
Ahmed, 66, told police that although he was not involved, he knew Zahid and Bashir, 50, were taking girls to the store for sex. He claimed that he did not tell the police in an earlier interview because he was afraid someone would try to kill him.
He said the two men would use his shop to store goods they sold at the market, and that he had found out they would bring girls to the shop when he traveled to Bradford to buy goods.
The court heard Zahid denied knowing the victim, who jurors heard, had been abused on a “rancid mattress” in the store's basement, or that he had had sex with her.
He accepted that he knew a second victim, who was allegedly 'guided around' by a 'gang' of taxi drivers among the defendants, but denied having sex with her.
He then returned no comment in another round of questioning about that girl.
The court heard that Bashir refused to answer most questions during his two interviews.
Jurors have heard that the two alleged victims were abused between February 2001 and April 2006 by men 'broadly' linked to Rochdale market or working as taxi drivers in the town.
Another defendant, Mohammed Shahzad, denied knowing the alleged victim he was accused of abusing and suggested she be paid £30,000 for “every person she locked up”, Mr Scamardella said.
Ahmed leaves Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on January 14, 2025 in Manchester
The court heard Ahmed told officers he was afraid of Zahid, a fellow market trader known as Boss Man or Knickerman. Pictured: Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester
Another man in the dock, Arfan Khan, said “the word on the street” was that the girls would get that amount if they convicted someone. He also claimed he didn't know the victim and was being 'framed'.
The court heard how co-accused Naheem Akram turned on another of the accused men after his first police interview in February 2017.
Mr Scamardella outlined how 48-year-old Akram had not commented on most questions but that he “began to lose his cool” with police officers as they prepared to release him.
The court heard he saw Hussain, who had also just been interviewed at the same police station, and started shouting at Hussain and calling him 'grass'.
Hussain denied ever meeting the same alleged victim and claimed he was being 'stitched together'.
Roheez Khan, who is said to have links to taxi drivers in the city through a taxi radio operator, denied having sex with the same victim.
Mr Scamardella said the victims had been 'abused, humiliated and then thrown away' by the men. One of the victims became pregnant after “the girls were lied to that Muslim men were forbidden to use protection,” he said.
The alleged crimes include rape, indecent assault and indecent exposure to a child.
The defendants have denied all allegations.
They are: Mohammed Zahid, from Crumpsall, Manchester; Naheem Akram; Mohammed Shazad, 43; Nisar Hussein, 43; Roheez Khan, 39; Arfan Khan, 40, all of Rochdale; Mushtaq Ahmed and Kasir Bashir, 50, both from Oldham.
The process continues.
