A Pakistani MP who was arrested in the UK over allegations of raping and trafficking underage girls has declined to say when he will return to Britain to meet his bail conditions. Rukhsar Ahmed, a former Pakistan state minister, was arrested at Manchester Airport in July 2024 on suspicion of raping and trafficking at least two underage girls from care homes in Manchester’s Rusholme area during the 1990s, The Guardian reported.

He was released on bail and travelled to Pakistan nearly two months ago, missing an appointment at a police station after telling officers he was too unwell to return to the UK. Days later, he was elected as an MP for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party. Ahmed, 61, was located at his office in Khari Sharif, a village in Mirpur district, according to the Mail on Sunday.

Asked when he would return to Britain, he told the newspaper he would do so to meet his bail conditions but declined to give a date. “Everything is with my legal team in Manchester and London, they told me I can’t discuss this,” he said. “What they done, this media in the United Kingdom and Europe, is out of order. I have not been convicted of anything nor charged for anything, so what is going on? I don’t want to discuss it, because if I discuss it, things may go wrong.”

Asked whether he had raped two underage girls, he refused to answer. “You are doing wrong now, I told you not to talk to me like this … please don’t talk to me like this, I told you I have nothing to do with it, OK,” he said.

Ahmed later issued a statement on Facebook on Friday, saying: “I categorically deny all the allegations against me and will address these matters through the appropriate forums. On legal advice, I will not comment further while these matters remain ongoing.”

Ahmed was a minister in various Pakistani state governments from 2006 until he lost his seat in 2021. The Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had sought to restrict Ahmed’s ability to travel abroad as part of his bail conditions, but a judge rejected tougher measures in July 2024. He was arrested at Manchester Airport on 18 July 2024 in connection with allegations of historical child sexual abuse linked to Rusholme, where he lived for many years.

The investigation concerns allegations from several women about the sexual abuse of children at care homes in the early 1990s, when Ahmed was in his late 20s.

Ahmed is understood to be due to answer police bail within the next six weeks. If he fails to attend, GMP could seek a warrant for his arrest or take steps towards extraditing him from Pakistan.

Richard Scorer, head of abuse law at Slater and Gordon, who has acted in a number of Manchester grooming gang cases, said Rusholme had “regularly featured in grooming gang investigations over the past 30 years”. “Not all of those allegations have been adequately investigated. I hope that a comprehensive investigation is taking place here,” he said.

Ahmed has not been convicted or charged in connection with the allegations.