Child rapist Kasir Bashir remains at large nine months after vanishing on the eve of his trial, with Greater Manchester Police admitting they still do not know where he is. And one of his victims has admitted she feels like his absence is “his last bit of control” over her. The 50-year-old was part of a seven-strong grooming gang who were sentenced to a total of 174 years in prison on Wednesday following a string of historic offences committed against vulnerable young white girls.
Bashir was previously convicted on Friday, June 13, of two counts of rape and two counts of indecency with a child for grooming and abusing two 13-year-old girls in Rochdale and Oldham between 2001 and 2006. Sentenced in absentia to 29 years at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday, Bashir’s whereabouts are unknown, with GMP saying on Thursday they were no closer to tracking him down, despite an international manhunt.
Bashir, of Napier Street East, Oldham, complied with bail conditions—including surrendering his passport—until the Thursday before the trial was due to start in January.
He then disappeared, triggering a bench warrant and forcing the five-month trial to proceed without him. Police believe he may have fled the UK illegally, but exhaustive searches, raids and Interpol alerts have yielded no leads. He was last seen in early January 2025.
Detective Chief Inspector Guy Laycock said: “We don’t know where he is, but we are determined to find him no matter where he thinks he can hide.”
Bashir is on GMP’s ‘force critical wanted list’ since January, under Operation Lytton, the force’s long-running probe into historical child sexual exploitation in Rochdale.
The convictions stemmed from a GMP investigation into historical child sexual exploitation.
The gang—market traders and taxi drivers—plied the victims, known as Girl A and Girl B, with alcohol and drugs at stalls and homes before raping them repeatedly in basements, taxis and derelict sites.
They filmed assaults for blackmail, treating the girls as “sex slaves,” Girl B testified: “I would just close my eyes and pray for it to be over. I just lay there.” Bashir had answered bail weekly since being charged in 2023, including the week before trial.
Bashir and the other six defendants were jailed on Wednesday: Mohammed Zahid, 65, of Station Road, Crumpsall—35 years for ten rapes, four indecencies with a child, five procurings and one attempted procuring; Mushtaq Ahmed, 66, of Corona Avenue, Oldham—27 years for four rapes, four indecencies and one procuring; Roheez Khan, 39, of Athole Street, Rochdale—12 years for one rape; Mohammed Shahzad, 43, of Beswicke Royds Street, Rochdale—26 years for five rapes and one assault by penetration; Nisar Hussain, 43, of Newfield Close, Rochdale—19 years for two rapes and one assault by penetration; Naheem Akram, 48, of Manley Road, Rochdale—26 years for six rapes and one assault by penetration.
Girl B called Bashir’s flight “cowardly,” his absence a “last bit of control.”
Det Chf Insp Laycock added: “The men who committed this horrific abuse have now been found guilty of their abhorrent crimes. One defendant, Kasir Bashir cowardly avoided the whole trial and thought he could escape justice.
“Time was no barrier to bringing these groomers to justice, and Bashir evading the trial will not stop us ensuring he now faces the full consequences of his actions.”
Prosecutor Liz Fell praised the victims’ “pivotal” evidence, while Rochdale Council’s Sharon Hubber vowed support to survivors and prevention efforts.
The case highlights past failures in Rochdale grooming scandals, with 32 offenders now jailed for 474 years across probes; 20 more men face trial from October 6.
