POLICE are investigating after a brick and a pig's head were thrown through the window at the home of a former Oldham councillor after a series of death threats.

Kaiser Rehman believes his home at Burlington Avenue, Coppice, was targeted by thugs because he has spoken out encouraging "hundreds of victims" of child sex exploitation in the town's Asian community to come forward and seek help.

Mr Rehman and his seven-year-old daughter had gone to bed when the missiles were thrown through the window at 12.05am this morning.

The 33-year-old property developer, who has campaigned against child sex exploitation and has backed the Keeping Our Girls Safe charity run by Stockport MP Ann Coffey, told The Oldham Times he had no doubt the attack was an attempt to intimidate him into keeping silent.

He said: “This was a politically motivated attack as a result of months of attacks on me on social media.

"I have never responded to them and reported them to the police. This was due to people calling me a 'sell out' for outing there was an honour based culture which stopped victims coming forward.

"Shabir Ahmed’s (the jailed Rochdale sex groomer) family members who were victims didn’t speak out for years after the incidents, his wife and son committed suicide. It proves my point, this is a real and live issue within the community, I stand by that.

"In recent days I was receiving death threats calling for my 'eradication' by people known to Greater Manchester Police. The level of abuse had reached a new height. The tone set by some was designed to incite violence. I had reported this to the police also."

Mr Rehman also said he believed there were people who took exception to his position on the Palestine-Israeli conflict and his criticism of Hamas after rocket fire from Gaza.

He went on: "I have also been critical of the Netanyahu government but extreme elements focused on the criticism of Hamas to create hate towards me.

"I believed that Hamas’ refusal to recognise Israel and calls for the obliteration of the Jewish state was extreme and hindered the two state solution. This is a position which Hamas has adopted and is against all the mainstream political parties’ standpoints on the issue in this country.

"It was a mixture of these factors that I believe led to this politically motivated attack, designed to strike fear in the hearts of me and my supporters.

"These extreme elements have been allowed to carry on without reproach and I feel that lives are in danger, I include myself in that.

"I believe community tensions have increased, Andy Burnham, GMP and Oldham Council, need to treat this with the seriousness it deserves.”

Asian Image:

The pig's head is sealed in a black plastic bag

The incident follows a swirl of rumours on social media relating to allegations of historic child sex exploitation in Oldham.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson confirmed the incident had been reported.

On Friday (November 22) it was announced an investigation into the claims has been taken over by the Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham's office. An independent review into child sexual exploitation has been set up with Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime Bev Hughes. Malcolm Newsam - who carried out the Rotherham inquiry - and Gary Ridgeway.