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ISLAMABAD: Former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza remained unhurt but his host was injured when a group of five people attacked him with iron rods when he was about to get into his car after attending a ceremony in the British city of Manchester.
Dr Mirza's media coordinator Habib Jan Baloch told Dawn on Saturday from London that the attackers managed to run away from the spot, but claimed that police were expected to arrest them soon because their footage had been obtained from CCTV.Mr Jan said the former minister ducked when the armed men of Asian origin attacked him. However, he said, unfortunately Mazhar Bukhari, an official and presenter of DM channel, received injuries because he was standing behind Dr Mirza.
Dr Mirza submitted a three-page statement to the UK police and nominated Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad and Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik as masterminds of the attack.
“The attack was a joint venture of all the three nominated persons who are British national and was aimed at stopping him from carrying out his mission to expose the killers of innocent Pakistanis,” Mr Jan said.
He said that Dr Mirza had also told police that the three people should be held responsible, if he was harmed in any such attack in future.
Moreover, he said, Dr Mirza had informed Scotland Yard that he was suspending his political and other activities for 10 days because of advent of Muharram.
However, he said, Dr Mirza would be available to assist police in connection with investigations into the murder of MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq, if required.
It may be mentioned that National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza had joined her husband who had been lobbying against the MQM in the UK for the past one week.
Dr Mirza, once a confidant of President Zardari, has always been in the news for verbal attacks on the MQM and remained a cause of tense relationship between the two parties when he was provincial home minister.
