Police officer to stand trial in Halifax child-grooming case

A POLICE officer was among 16 men charged yesterday as part of an investigation into an alleged child-grooming gang in Halifax.

Amjad Ditta, 35, of West Yorkshire Police, has been suspended from duty and will appear before Bradford magistrates on Jan 6 alongside the others.

Mr Ditta, who was attached to protective services operations, was a serving officer at the time of an alleged offence in 2009. He was charged with sexual touching, the force confirmed.

Police said yesterday’s charges related to alleged child sexual exploitation offences against three teenage girls in Halifax between 2006 and 2009. The alleged victims were aged between 13 and 16 at the time.

Metab Islam, 46, is charged with rape, supply of a class C drug, sexual assault and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Arfan Mir, 36, is charged with rape, supply of class A and class C drugs and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Nadeem Nassir, 39, and Shahzad Nawaz, 40, are charged with rape, supply of a class C drug and making threats to kill.

Vaseem Adalat, 33, is charged with rape, trafficking and supply of a class C drug. Christopher Eastwood, 45, Vaqaas Abbas, 30, Nadeem Adalat, 34, Shazad Nazir, 44, and Sohail Zafar, 36, are all charged with rape and supplying a class C drug.

Asad Mahmood, 33, is charged with rape and trafficking. Younis Mohammed, 34, is charged with rape and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. Sajid Adalat, 43, and Mohammed Rizwan Iqbal, 34, are charged with rape. Ishtiaq Latif, 32, is accused of sexual activity with a child.

All the accused are from the Halifax area.