Arrests for council leader’s car fire

TWO men have been arrested in relation with an arson attack on a council leader’s car, police confirmed last weekend.

The vehicle of Arooj Shah, leader of Oldham council, was firebombed in the early hours of last Tuesday (13), according to media reports.

Emergency services were alerted just before 1.30am after hearing the vehicle had been set on fire in Goldwick, Oldham. Although no one was hurt in the incident, the flames from the vehicle were said to be so intense that a neighbouring property was also damaged.

Shah has been head of the local authority since May after the previous leader Sean Fielding lost his seat. She is the first Muslim woman council leader to lead a northern authority.

Police said a 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of committing arson with intent to endanger life. A 23-year-old previously held on suspicion of the same offence has been released on conditional bail.

Appealing for information, Det Ch Insp Wesley Knights, of Greater Manchester Police, said: “This second arrest hopefully sends a message that we will not rest until the circumstances around this incident are fully understood, and we have found and brought to justice those responsible for this reckless act.”

Shah has lived in Goldwick, one of England’s poorest wards, since her parents moved to the UK from Pakistan in the late 1960s. After being elected council leader, she has spoken of her struggles battling racism and misogyny, as well as the opposition she has faced from traditionalists within her community.