London: Nine men have reportedly been arrested by British police, which is investigating a suspected second gang involved in grooming young girls for sex.
The alleged victim is reported to be one of 47 girls questioned by police in relation to an earlier child sexual exploitation ring in the town of Rochdale.
In the earlier case nine Asian men were jailed for a total of 77 years for raping and abusing girls as young as 13, after plying them with alcohol.
According to the Greater Manchester Police, the men arrested in the latest inquiry are not thought to have known each other, The Daily Mail reports.
A police spokesman said the recent arrests were the result of an inquiry into the sexual exploitation of a teenage girl, described as ``vulnerable`` by men since 2005, but confirmed they are not in any way related to the group jailed this week.
“In total nine men has been arrested aged between 24 and 38 years old, on suspicion of sexual activity with a child. They have been bailed pending further inquiries,” the paper quoted the spokesman, as saying.
The nine men involved in the separate case, which was concluded on Wednesday, were convicted of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16 and other sexual offences including rape and trafficking for sexual exploitation.
The trial heard that the men, who are all from Pakistan, apart from one who is from Afghanistan, groomed and ``shared`` the young white girls because they were vulnerable.
ANI
