Abdul Salam (pictured outside court today) wanted revenge after feeling rejected when Razia Azhar ended the illicit sexual trysts – which they had started a decade after their first relationship ended
A former special constable who stalked his married ex-lover and put a tracking device on her car when she broke off their affair has today been jailed for 12 months.
Abdul Salam, from Dundee, Scotland, wanted revenge after feeling rejected when Razia Azhar ended the illicit sexual trysts – which they had started a decade after their first relationship ended.
The 37-year-old stalked his secret lover for months before she became suspicious about him and set up a honey trap to catch him out and confront him.
Today, Salam was jailed for a year and made the subject of a lifelong non-harassment order, after Mrs Azhar told Dundee Sheriff Court she was living in fear of him.
Sheriff Lorna Drummond said: ‘You pled guilty to a course of conduct against the complainer which involved you following her over two or three months, going to her children’s school and the gym, and texting her husband pretending she was having an affair, and placing a tracking device on her car.
‘You showed no insight into the distress, fear and alarm it would have caused to the complainer. It is clear this has had a profound impact on her.
‘She stated you were someone who would stop at nothing. Her whole independence and confidence have been taken away and destroyed.
‘She feels a prisoner and is left in constant fear. Your behaviour was not impulsive. It was planned. Placing a tracking device on a vehicle requires preparation and planning.
‘According to the reports your angry, obsessive, unrepentant thoughts about the complainer indicate an elevated level of concern for risk to her.’
The court was told that the married father-of-four had set up an elaborate ruse to try and convince Mrs Azhar’s husband that she was cheating on him.
The former special constable – a voluntary officer with the same powers as police officers – posed as a woman called ‘Samantha’ and reported Mrs Azhar’s movements to her husband in a bid to convince him his wife was having an affair.
But Mr and Mrs Azhar set up a sting operation to out Salam and that led to an angry confrontation involving police and the discovery of the secret tracking device.
Salam – whose original pre-marriage relationship with his victim lasted two years and ended in 2008 – admitted stalking Mrs Azhar for more than two months.
He admitted that between 1 April and 7 June 2019 he engaged in a course of stalking against Razia Azhar at PureGym, Brown Street and West Marketgait, Dundee.
He admitted following her, placing a tracking device on her car, pretending to her husband she was having an affair, taking a photo of her car and sending it to him and verbally harassing her.
Today, Salam was jailed for a year and made the subject of a lifelong non-harassment order, after Mrs Azhar told Dundee Sheriff Court (pictured) she was living in fear of him
Fiscal depute Stewart Duncan told the court: ‘The accused was formerly in a relationship with Razia Azhar which ended in 2008. They were in a relationship approximately two years.
‘She states that over a three month period she began to notice the accused would frequently turn up at locations where she was.
‘In May 2019 she was in PureGym when she was approached by the accused asking to get back with him. He became aggressive and was shouting.
‘The accused was removed from the building. A staff member had seen him hanging around the building on a number of occasions – always when Razia Azhar was using the gym.’
Her husband Mobeen Azhar began receiving WhatsApp messages from a number he did not know, with the sender claiming to be a parent at his child’s school.
‘The person claimed to be called Samantha and said they had evidence Razia Azhar was cheating on him. This person seemed to have in-depth knowledge of her movements.’
The couple discussed what was going on and – coupled with Salam’s frequent unexplained appearances – they realised he must be involved in the plot.
Soon after, Salam turned up outside the school and told Mrs Azhar that he had been in touch with her husband and he knew she was cheating on him.
The couple then hatched a plot to trap Salam and Mr Azhar sent a text to ‘Samantha’ in order to lure him into meeting them in a public place.
Salam was asked to take a picture of his victim if he could find her – as the couple suspected he would be able to track her down to where they parked in Brown Street.
‘They both got into her car and Mr Azhar concealed himself in the back. A short time later the accused arrived,’ Mr Duncan told the court.
‘He approached Razia Azhar and said he wanted to talk. Mobeen Azhar got out of the car and confronted the accused and they began pushing each other.’
The fracas took place in view of police HQ and a detective rushed out to intervene. Salam ran to his car to get away but the officer grabbed his keys and he was detained.
‘Mrs Azhar approached the officer and said she could see an item which she thought was a tracking device which had been cable tied to her front wheel.
‘The tracking device was examined and found to be branded ‘Rewire Security’ which had cellphone technology and provided location information.
‘A DNA match for the accused was discovered on the device and the cable ties which had been used to keep it in place on the complainer’s vehicle.’
Solicitor Larry Flynn, defending, said: ‘From February 2018 to April 2019 they were involved in an affair. They were both married and it involved going to hotels on a regular basis for sexual relations.
‘The complainer broke off the relationship in April 2019 and told him she wanted no more to do with him. The report indicates this offence was fuelled by revenge for the rejection.
‘There are other victims of this. By his behaviour he has caused devastation to his wife, but he has had to deal with that. He has managed to hold that together.’