Indian student Bilal Kazi jailed for 30 years in UK for grooming 70 girls

Chandigarh. A 27-year-old Indian man who posed online as a 14-year-old British boy named “Reece” to trap schoolgirls has been jailed for 30 years in England. Cheshire Police called it its largest online child abuse investigation.

Bilal Kazi, a former University of Chester student living in Birmingham, was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Friday. He must serve at least two-thirds of the term before parole and will then stay on extended licence for eight years.

Police traced 70 victims across 28 of the UK’s 45 police forces. The girls were aged 11 to 17 at the time. Investigators first flagged 180 possible victims from his phone.

Kazi contacted girls on Snapchat, Roblox and the Wink app, using photos of an unidentified boy. He made them believe they were in a relationship, then pressured them for sexual images and videos. When they refused, he threatened to share what they had already sent. Prosecutors said one video he posted online was viewed by 93 people.

“We will never know how many victims fell prey to your deviant behaviour,” Judge Steven Everett told him.

The case came to light after a girl who began chatting with “Reece” on Snapchat at 13 reported him to Derbyshire Police in November 2021. Her account was later hacked and her images were shared with her friends. In court, she said she became a joke overnight at school and lost her friends.

By the time Cheshire Police took over the case in May 2022, Kazi had left the country. He was arrested at Heathrow Airport on his return in July 2023 and released on bail. He kept targeting girls until he was rearrested and remanded in August 2025. Officers found 9,000 messages he had exchanged with one girl in just three weeks.

Kazi was already a registered sex offender under a Sexual Risk Order when some of the offences took place. Media reports said he had also overstayed his student visa.

He pleaded guilty to 37 of the 39 charges brought by Cheshire Police, including blackmail and causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Detective Constable Georgia Hughes called it “a truly mammoth investigation”. Martin McRobb of the Crown Prosecution Service said Kazi acted “with absolute ruthlessness”.

The court also gave him lifelong sexual harm prevention and restraining orders. Police urged parents to check the apps their children use, warning that offenders can strike from anywhere in the world.