ISLAMABAD: Leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the main opposition party in Pakistan, are outraged over an attack on Dr Adnan Khan, the personal physician of their leader, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, in London.
Khan is recuperating in a London hospital after the attack by masked men a day earlier on Monday.
According to reports from the UK, two masked men assaulted Khan with a metal rod when on his the daily evening walk. They attacked him from behind, punched and kicked him and then ran away leaving him on the floor. Khan sustained bruises and injuries on his face and neck, however, his condition is stated to be stable.
London police said they have received the report about the assault and the Sharifs have also complained about the incident.
Khan was attacked outside the Aston Martin showroom in Mayfair. He had been receiving threats on the phone for many weeks. According to sources, he has handed over evidence to the police.
Former prime minister and senior vice president of the party Shahid Khaqan Abbasi demanded the UK government provide adequate security to the physician of Sharif.
The party secretary general Ahsan Iqbal in a statement said while seeing the track record of attacks on the PML-N leadership in London, it can easily be guessed who could be behind this assault, without naming the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters in London.
He said in the past such incidents took place but the British government didn’t take any action against the culprits.
Meanwhile, President of the PML-N and Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother, also condemned the attack on Khan.
In a statement on Tuesday, Shahbaz said the nature of the attack showed it was a “planned and organised incident” and was carried out to cause “obstruction in Nawaz Sharif’s treatment.”
We have launched a complaint with the London police and the hope that they would bring to light the people responsible for the attack after investigation, he added.