- CCTV shows masked suspects removing parts from the vehicles.
- PML-N leaders allege politically motivated attack; police investigating.
- Incident follows previous security-related episodes involving Sharif in London.
LONDON: Two masked men posing as delivery riders targeted a BMW and a Mercedes-Benz used by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif outside his Avenfield apartments in central London, damaging the vehicles and removing parts in an incident that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) officials have described as a suspected politically motivated attack.
CCTV footage released on X by PML-N Youth Wing leader Khurram Butt shows two individuals arriving on motorcycles around midnight, wearing masks and gloves to conceal their identities, before approaching the vehicles parked outside the former prime minister’s residence.
Nawaz is currently in London on a week-long visit for medical check-ups, with his sons Hasan and Hussain Nawaz.
According to Butt, the suspects removed four items from the vehicles and damaged at least one rear-view mirror. The combined value of the BMW and Mercedes-Benz is estimated at approximately £200,000, although the extent of the financial loss has not been independently established.
The footage shows approximately seven to ten other vehicles parked along the same road at the time. However, the two vehicles associated with Nawaz were the only ones visibly targeted in the footage.
The vehicles are normally parked within the Avenfield property, but ongoing renovation work has restricted access to the usual parking facilities, forcing the vehicles to be left on the public road.
Butt said the CCTV footage had been handed over to the Metropolitan Police and that officers were investigating the incident.
PML-N UK President Ahsan Dar alleged that the incident appeared to be politically motivated rather than an ordinary case of vehicle theft.
He argued that the selective targeting of the two vehicles associated with Nawaz, despite several other vehicles being parked nearby, raised serious questions about the suspects’ intentions.
However, the identities of the suspects and their motives have not been established, and there has been no independently confirmed police finding that the incident was politically motivated.
Butt said the incident was particularly concerning because it was not the first time vehicles used by the former prime minister had been targeted in London.
In May 2023, a vehicle associated with Nawaz was damaged during a confrontation involving Black Lives Matter protesters and police in central London. A protester threw coffee at the vehicle and kicked it.
The Sharif family has also experienced several security-related incidents in London over the years.
In July 2018, protesters attempted to force their way into the family’s Avenfield residence. Police were called after demonstrators tried to breach the entrance, while confrontations between rival political supporters resulted in arrests.
In May 2021, four unidentified men, three of them wearing masks, reportedly attempted to enter the London office of Nawaz Sharif’s son Hassan Nawaz while the former prime minister was inside. The incident was reported to police, and PML-N leaders alleged that the men had intended to attack Nawaz Sharif.
In April 2022, another confrontation outside Nawaz Sharif’s London office resulted in injuries to a security guard, with police confirming receipt of an assault complaint.
In a separate incident in March and April 2023, Nawaz became the target of an alleged vehicle registration fraud in London when three vehicles were registered in his name and at his Avenfield residence without his knowledge or consent.
The matter came to light after the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) sent registration documents to Sharif’s London address. On 11 April 2023, Transport for London (TfL) also issued a penalty charge notice in his name for a traffic violation near Buckingham Palace involving one of the fraudulently registered vehicles.
Sharif’s office reported the incidents to the police and DVLA, prompting a fraud investigation. The DVLA subsequently confirmed that his details had been removed from the vehicle records.
