Mahek Bukhari: TikTok, blackmail and double murder

Mahek Bukhari was a burgeoning TikTok star, with a parent who enthusiastically supported her influencer daughter. But an ill-fated matter saw some their lives unravel into deceit, blackmail, and yet murder.

Mahek, from Stoke-on-Trent, had acceptable her sights connected a societal media vocation aft dropping retired of university.

It was starting to wage off. She had astir 129,000 followers and was earning an income done marque promotions - with parties and merchandise motorboat events up and down the country.

She besides boasted astir an "elite relationship" with her mother, Ansreen, who often joined successful her videos.

But erstwhile Ansreen met 21-year-old Saqib Hussain, it sparked a concatenation of events that ended successful tragedy, and yet saw some parent and girl convicted of treble murder.

Both person present been sentenced to beingness successful prison, with Mahek ordered to service astatine slightest 31 years and 8 months, and Ansreen fixed a minimum word of 26 years and 9 months.

Ansreen and Saqib archetypal began chatting online successful 2019, done video app Azar.

They exchanged numbers and were soon talking each day. The narration was connected and off, but lasted astir 3 years.

Det Insp Mark Parish, from Leicestershire Police, said Ansreen was "flattered" by the involvement Saqib showed successful her.

He said they met galore times - successful hotels, restaurants and shisha lounges.

But successful 2021, the narration started to crook sour. Ansreen tried to interruption it off, and Saqib was upset.

Struggling to woody with her rejection, helium pleaded with her to reconsider. Things escalated, until Saqib threatened to nonstop explicit worldly of his ex-lover to her husband.

At the extremity of that year, Ansreen cracked and told her girl everything. But alternatively of going to constabulary astir the blackmail, Mahek decided to instrumentality matters into her ain hands.

"Knowing the household of Saqib and having been with them throughout, I cognize they would person dealt with Saqib and stopped him from doing what helium was doing," Det Insp Parish said.

"If [the Bukahris] would person spoken to the police, this would not person happened. It would not person got to this stage."

In a bid to assistance her mother, Mahek turned to her person - car mechanic Rekan Karwan.

The brace plotted to lure Saqib to a gathering by offering to manus implicit £3,000. This was the magnitude of wealth he'd complained helium spent connected Ansreen portion they were lovers.

Rekan enlisted the assistance of his champion person - Raees Jamal - arsenic good arsenic Raees' relative Ameer Jamal, and different friends Sanaf Gulummustafa, Natasha Akhtar and Mohammed Patel.

In the aboriginal hours of 11 February 2022, the radical arrived astatine a Tesco supermarket successful Leicester, and waited for Saqib. The program was to ambush him.

In Banbury - Saqib's location municipality - helium was trying to put a assistance to get to Leicester.

He asked a fewer friends. One of them, Hashim Ijazuddin, offered to thrust him.

"Hashim doesn't cognize thing that's going on, he's a person of Saqib's and helium conscionable agreed to thrust Saqib to Leicester connected the nighttime successful question - wholly innocently," Det Insp Parish said.

"He knew nary of the defendants, knew thing astir what's going connected and successful immoderate respects is astir apt the lone idiosyncratic who is astatine the incorrect spot astatine the incorrect time."

Saqib and Hashim arrived astatine the Tesco car parkland astatine 01:17 GMT. They slowed down and waited for a fewer seconds, but sensed thing was wrong.

They rapidly near the scene, but their Skoda was followed by 2 cars - a bluish Seat Leon, driven by Raees, and an Audi TT with Rekan down the wheel.

Mahek and Ansreen's proceedings heard they were passengers successful the Audi.

At this point, constabulary knew from telephone records that Mahek called Saqib.

"It gets rather heated," Det Insp Parish said. "But we ne'er cognize what is said.

"But words are exchanged."

One infinitesimal aft this conversation, Saqib called 999.

He told the relation helium was a rider successful a car that was being followed. He said the car down was trying to ram him disconnected the road.

The frantic telephone lasted astir 5 minutes arsenic Saqib and Hashim continued down the dual carriageway, going done a reddish airy successful an effort to suffer their pursuers.

"One of the archetypal things helium talks astir is being blocked in, and definite enough, the footage from a car dealership intelligibly shows the car being blocked successful with a conveyance successful beforehand trying to brake and halt the car," Det Insp Parish said.

"You tin perceive [on the call] Saqib accidental to Hashim 'send it, nonstop it', which is an denotation to Hashim for them to conscionable spell and get retired of present - we don't similar what's happening.

"At that point, you tin intelligibly ideate the fearfulness and interest that's going done their minds - the information they've gone done a reddish airy and they're inactive being followed."

The families of Saqib and Hashim person asked for the 999 telephone played successful tribunal not to beryllium broadcast.

The last moments are highly distressing. Towards the end, the enactment goes soundless for 10 seconds earlier the relation asks if Saqib is inactive there.

"The telephone becomes emotional, rather upsetting and you tin perceive that they're close down them, and past screams and quiet," Det Insp Parish said.

Just aft 01:30, a betterment operator was travelling on the A46 erstwhile helium saw a car connected occurrence adjacent to a tree. After realising no-one had called the police, helium blocked disconnected the roadworthy with his truck.

The archetypal constabulary officers arrived astir 10 minutes later, intimately followed by firefighters.

After the occurrence was enactment out, 1 of the constabulary officers saw the bodies of 2 radical successful the car.

Further up the road, the Audi and Seat drivers pulled over. Mahek took implicit arsenic operator of the Audi, and Natasha the Seat.

Then they headed backmost to Leicester to laic low. On their mode back, they drove past the burning wreckage.

Once they arrived successful the city, they pulled up successful Sutton Place, a quiescent cul-de-sac distant from prying eyes. The radical got retired of the cars and began walking the streets.

They were spotted astatine assorted points astatine astir 02:00, picked up connected CCTV arsenic they moved astir the country successful the acold February darkness.

Officers who aboriginal secured the footage could not beryllium definite what they were doing, but 1 mentation is that they were preparing a screen story.

They past either walked location oregon were dropped off. Natasha - who was the registered proprietor of the Seat - began her travel backmost to her location successful Birmingham, portion the Bukharis headed northbound to Stoke-on-Trent.

The communicative of a societal media influencer, her mum and a execution plot.

Meanwhile, Leicestershire Police knew thing the radical did not.

Saqib's 999 telephone had been passed connected to detectives and they had begun scouring automatic fig sheet designation (ANPR) cameras.

They enactment retired an alert, and 2 officers successful the West Midlands spotted Natasha's Seat.

They began to travel her, and aboriginal boxed her successful astatine a petrol station. Before this happened, she called Raees successful a panic.

She was past arrested and taken into custody.

Shortly aft 08:00, Mahek and Ansreem were woken astatine location by the dependable of constabulary speaking to Mahek's member and father.

At this constituent Mahek noticed she had a raft of missed calls from Raees, who knew constabulary had recovered Natasha.

While officers from Staffordshire Police continued to talk to the antheral members of the house, Mahek called Raees back.

She past sent a substance to her parent successful the adjacent room, explaining what she would accidental to officers.

Dressed successful a pink, fluffy oversized hoodie, Mahek lied to police, saying that connected the nighttime of the crash, they had been connected their mode to Nottingham for a societal media event.

The brace were aboriginal arrested and taken to a constabulary presumption successful Leicester.

While being interviewed successful custody, Mahek continued to prevarication astir what she had been doing that night.

But erstwhile constabulary played Saqib's 999 call, she appeared taken aback.

Instead of conceding defeat, she broke down successful tears and said Saqib "lies truthful much" and had "manipulated" events.

The Bukharis and six others are aboriginal charged with murder.

One of those, Mohammed Patel - who was aboriginal cleared of each charges - went connected to archer constabulary the afloat story, and revealed what happened during the chase.

Importantly, helium told officers that Rekan and Raees had a telephone speech during the pursuit astir ramming Saqib disconnected the road.

On the day of Friday 4 August 2023, aft a agelong 18 months of waiting, some the Hussain and Ijazzudin families prepared to find retired the destiny of those accused of their loved ones' murders.

The assemblage had deliberated for much than 28 hours.

Earlier that day, Mahek was seen by reporters extracurricular Leicester Crown Court laughing and waving astatine them from a precinct balcony.

Her assured demeanour was soon gone. She burst into tears arsenic the assemblage recovered some parent and girl blameworthy of 2 counts of murder.

Rekan Karwan and Raees Jamal, the drivers of the 2 cars, were besides recovered blameworthy of some murders.

Natasha Akhtar, Sanaf Gulammustafa and Ameer Jamal were each convicted of 2 counts of manslaughter.

After the verdict, Saqib's relative Adil Bahar spoke to the BBC, explaining the symptom the families had gone done to scope this point.

He said helium "misses him each day".

"As we sat successful the seats successful tribunal and the justice said the assemblage has travel to a verdict, astatine that constituent my bosom conscionable felt [like it was] breaking down.

"I'd bash thing to person him back."

Speaking astatine a shot tourney organised successful Hashim's memory, some of his older brothers paid heartfelt tributes.

Muhammed Zaheer said: "In a abbreviated abstraction of his life, helium touched truthful galore hearts up and down the state and each implicit the world.

"I could archer you stories astir him from dawn until dusk... there's excessively many.

"We would ever person each other's back... helium was my champion friend. Having a champion person arsenic a member is thing precise special."

Mohammed Zain besides paid tribute and said helium was reminded of his member astir everywhere.

"The lone existent TikTok influencer, world-life influencer was Hashim. You tin spot each the radical [at the tournament], you tin spot each their messages astir him," helium said.

"Everybody wants to beryllium his brother. You know, adjacent if you look online, everybody volition say, that's my brother.

"He was 1 successful a million."