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.
CCTV footage released on X by PML-N Youth Wing leader Khurram Butt shows the two suspects arriving on motorcycles around midnight, wearing masks and gloves to conceal their identities before approaching the parked cars.
According to Butt, the suspects removed four items from the vehicles and damaged at least one rear-view mirror. The two cars together are valued at approximately 200,000 pounds, although the extent of the financial loss has not been independently established.
The footage shows roughly seven to ten other vehicles parked along the same road, yet the two cars linked to the former prime minister were the only ones visibly targeted. The cars are normally kept within the Avenfield property, but renovation work has restricted access to the usual parking, forcing them to be left on the public road.
Nawaz is currently in London on a week-long visit for medical check-ups, accompanied by his sons Hasan and Hussain Nawaz. Butt said the CCTV footage had been handed to the Metropolitan Police, who are investigating the incident.
PML-N UK president Ahsan Dar alleged the episode appeared politically motivated rather than ordinary vehicle theft, arguing that the selective targeting raised serious questions about the suspects’ intentions. However, their identities and motives have not been established, and there is 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. A vehicle linked to Nawaz was damaged during a confrontation in May 2023, while his family has reported several security-related incidents at the London residence in recent years.
