More arrests in hunt for absconded sex offenders

Brothers Fayaz and Imtiaz Ahmed received prison sentences in their absence in January

Two more people have been arrested as police search for a pair of convicted sex offenders who absconded before their trial began.

Brothers Fayaz and Imtiaz Ahmed, aged 45 and 62, were convicted of raping a girl in Keighley in the 1990s, when she was 13 or 14.

They were handed prison sentences in their absence earlier this year, of seven-and-a-half years and nine years respectively.

A 24-year-old man and 37-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, West Yorkshire Police said.

It follows the arrest of six men and two women, aged between 26 and 76, who were arrested on suspicion of the same offence last month.

Speaking then, Det Ch Insp Vicky Greenbank of Bradford District Police said: "Our focus remains on ensuring that two serious sexual offenders are located and apprehended so that justice is served.

"Extensive inquiries remain ongoing to locate Fayaz and Imtiaz and we are working with our partners the Crown Prosecution Service and National Crime Agency to find them."

The brothers were sentenced in their absence at Bradford Crown Court on 17 January, alongside Ibrar Hussain, 47, who did appear.

Hussain was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

The three men were sentenced following a series of trials involving eight men and two victims.

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