THE suspected ringleader of a gang of Asian paedophiles is having “the time
of his life” after fleeing justice while on bail.
Drug-dealing fugitive Arif Chowdhury, 20, is accused of repeatedly beating a
girl, then 13, over the course of a year.
He is said to have laughed as he pimped her out to other gang members.
Days after his arrest for alleged rape he flew to Bangladesh.
Cops publicly insist they are trying to find him and bring him back to the UK
to stand trial.
But they have admitted privately that their chances are slim.
No one has ever been extradited to the UK from Bangladesh.
Chowdhury fled with dad Nurur Rahman in 2012 and later taunted cops online by
setting up a Facebook profile as a self-styled “international gangster”.
As ten of Chowdhury’s pals now face jail, his songwriter dad has vowed his
son will never return.
He has said he took his son back to the family home in Bangladesh because he
got into drugs.
The wealthy family kept his arrest secret in Bangladesh and instead blamed the
UK for “spoiling him”.
Last night, a pal told how Chowdhury spends his days high on heroin.
He said: “He is always after money. He takes heroin and smokes grass.
“He asks everyone for cash. He even tries to get money off his family in
England.”
READ MORE:
The
full shocking account of convicted ‘cuckoo’ student Elisa Bianco’s lies
Paedophile
gang victim aged 13 went reported missing to cops 71 times
But his aunt Rashona Begum, 38, told The Sun that Chowdhury had turned his
life around.
And in a bizarre outburst, she blamed his victim, saying: “Why look at him?
Why not look at the girl? They are more intelligent than boys. Did she trap
him?”
She said “he was really enjoying” life in Bangladesh.
Rashona added: “He went on holiday — he didn’t run. Now he’s there he’s
making progress every day. It’s like being in heaven.
“He didn’t run away because he raped a girl. He went there for a better life.
He’s having a really good time.”
Rashona, of Newcastle upon Tyne, added: “He will come back.
“Once he is completely improved he will hand himself in.” A spokesman for West
Yorkshire Police confirmed officers were still looking for a suspect in the
case but refused to say where.
At the trial of the rest of the gang, Chowdhury was described as the
ringleader. Bradford crown court heard that he first persuaded the girl to
carry out drug runs in their home town of Keighley, West Yorkshire.
When she eventually refused he allegedly dragged her into the grounds of a
church and raped her — laughing as she sobbed on the ground. She told her
family what had happened.
But when cops arrived she said she had invented the attack, afraid of what
might happen to her.
Cops dropped their probe in 2011 and advised her to stop hanging around with
older Asian men.
In the following weeks and months she was allegedly raped repeatedly by
Chowdhury and his pals at several locations in Keighley.
She was finally taken into care in June 2012 and Chowdhury and “his crew” were
arrested.
Cops linked the girl, now 18, to the gang via Facebook messages and phone
numbers.
Ten men, aged 19 to 29 and all from Keighley, were found guilty of rape and
will be sentenced on February 5.
Another man, 62, also from Keighley, was found guilty of sexual activity with
a child under 16. Three suspects were cleared.
Claude Knights, of child safety charity Kidscape, said the case raised serious
questions, including why Chowdhury was able to leave the UK while on bail.
She said: “He potentially remains a danger to children and this girl is unable
to feel truly safe while this alleged predator is at large.”