Influencer, 23, ‘murdered mother’s secret lover in high-speed smash after he tried to blackmail her with sex tape’
A TIKTOK star hatched a plot to "silence" her mum's secret lover after he tried to blackmail her with a sex tape, a court has heard today.
TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari, 23, her mum Ansreen Bukhari, 45, and six others are charged with the murder of Ansreen's ex-lover Saqib Hussain, 21, and his pal.
All the defendants deny murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.
Ansreen had dumped Saqib before the fireball crash in Leicestershire on February 11, the court heard.
Soon after the breakup, he threatened to expose their affair and send explicit videos and pictures of Ansreen to her dad, it is alleged.
Ansreen and her daughter Mahek are accused of cooking up a plan to "jump" Saqib in revenge.
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They allegedly lured him to a fake meeting where they promised he'd collect £3k.
While heading to the fake meet-up, Saqib and his pal Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, who was driving, were chased by two vehicles, the court heard.
The chase ended when Saqib and Mohammed's vehicle smashed into a tree and erupted in a huge fireball on the A46 near Six Hills in Leicestershire.
Before the crash, Mahek sent a message to her mum reading: "I'll soon get him jumped by guys and he won't know what day it is."
Prosecutor Colingwood Thompson KC told the opening of their trial at Leicester Crown Court: “This is a story of love, obsession, anger, attempt at extortion and ultimately murder."
He added: "A way had to be found to silence Saqib - either by causing him a really serious injury to warn him or to silence him forever by killing him.
"The revelation of the affair could have ruined Asreen Bukhari's marriage and damaged her reputation in her community.
"It could also have affected Mahek's relationship with her father because she knew about the affair.
This is a story of love, obsession, anger, attempt at extortion and ultimately murder
Prosecutor Colingwood Thompson KC
"Mahek was a social influencer and had a large number of followers on TikTok and the revelations of the affair might have been damaging to her standing with her followers."
Saqib estimated he spent more than £2,000 on Ansreen during their three-year affair and demanded the money back, the court heard.
His actions likely "amounted to blackmail", the court heard.
Mr Thompson added: "They set a trap that seems to have been hatched on the afternoon of February 10.
"The idea was to lure Saqib into a meeting.
"Once at that meeting, he would be confronted with numerical superiority and it was hoped he would hand the phone over.
"If he was not prepared to hand the phone over they were willing to cause him a serious injury, if not silence him completely."
'BLACKMAIL' FEARS
In a distressing 999 call shortly before the crash, Saqib said: "I'm being followed by two vehicles. They're trying to block me in. They've got balaclavas on.
"They're trying to ram me off the road. They're trying to kill me. I'm going to die!"
He added: "I just came to Leicester to see one of my mates who goes to university here.
"They hit into the back of the car very fast. Please, I'm begging you, I'm going to die. No!"
The call suddenly ends as the car crashes into a tree.
Saqib's mobile phone was destroyed in the fire, but police were able to retrieve data from the iCloud.
Mehek is charged with two counts of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter alongside her mother Ansreen and friend Natasha Akhtar, 22.
They are on trial along with Raees Jamal, 22, Rekan Karwan, 28, Mohammed Patel, 20, Sanaf Gulammustafa, 22 and Ameer Jamal, 27, who face the same charges.
Mr Thompson added: "The police were able to obtain access to his information on the iCloud from his phone and this is how the police pieced together their relationship.
"Between August 10, 2021 and February 9 2022, Saqib had contacted Ansreen Bukhari 1,702 times.
"Ansreen contacted Saqib in this period 214 times too.
"The number of calls suggest there was a relationship between the two of them.
"Mobile phone information on iCloud showed that there was a sexual relationship between the two."
The court heard the affair had recently ended but Saqib wanted to resume the relationship and continued to message and phone her.
Mr Thompson added: "He became very obsessive and his anger went to blackmail when she was not answering calls.
"He threatened to send the sexually explicit Instagram material to her husband and son if she did not contact him."
The court heard the flaming car was spotted by witnesses driving past the scene who noticed the vehicle had "disintegrated".
Mr Thompson added: "By the time the police got onto the dual carriage they could see a fire in the distance.
"Because of the intensity of the fire they could not safely approach it.
"Only when they had put out the fire did they see a body hanging out the car and another body in the driver's seat.
"They were both 21 years old and identified through dental investigations.
"By 9:30am on the same morning three of the defendants here today had been arrested.
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"This was Natasha Akhtar, Mahek Bukhari and Ansreen Bukhari."
The trial continues.
