Religious group member banned from child contact

A man arrested following modern slavery raids on a religious group has been banned from having unsupervised contact with children.

Sajid Khokhar was the 11th suspect held in relation to sexual offence allegations linked to members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light in Crewe, and has been sanctioned under an interim Slavery and Trafficking Risk Order (STRO).

The 48-year-old British national was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking offences on 7 May and later released on conditional bail.

The STRO application regarding Khokhar was approved at Chester Magistrates' Court and will "ensure there is no risk to the public and other members of the group", Cheshire Police said.

A 12th member, a 30-year-old man - a Mexican national - was arrested in Croydon on Friday on suspicion of sexual assault by penetration and modern slavery offences and released on conditional bail.

Investigating officers said the group's reported offences, which also included forced marriage allegations, were reported to have taken place in 2023 and involved one woman who was a member of the group at the time.

Seven other men and three women were arrested in the initial raids and have all since been released on conditional bail.

Ch Supt Gareth Wrigley said: "I welcome the granting of this order, and I hope that they provide some reassurance to the local community.

"I would also like to reiterate that this is not an investigation into the religion, our investigation solely focuses on the serious allegations which have been reported to us."

Under the terms of the order, Khokhar's ban includes:

• Not entering Crewe
• Contacting the victim
• Having any unsupervised contact with any children aged under 18 without the consent of the child's parent or guardian and with the express approval from social services
• Travelling into or out of the UK in the company of anyone, save for his biological children
• Possessing any original or copy identity documents save those pertaining to themselves
• Being in possession or control of any bank card, payment card, sim card or mobile phone belonging to another person
• Staying at an address in the UK for more than 24 hours without reporting his whereabouts to the police

He must also surrender any passport, national identity card or other travel document issued in his name to a constable, within 24 hours of the STRO order being approved.

The case has been adjourned and Khokhar is due in court again on 11 September.

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