Who Is Shahzad Akbar? Imran Khan’s Former Aide, Who Criticised Asim Munir, Attacked Outside UK Home, Suffers Nose And Jaw Fractures

Shahzad Akbar, once a top aide to former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, was attacked outside his home in Cambridge, UK. He ended up in the hospital with a broken nose and jaw.

Imran Khan’s former aide attacked 

People from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) say Akbar was jumped by masked attackers right near his house on Wednesday. They didn’t just threaten him, they punched him over and over in the face. 

Paramedics rushed him to a local hospital, where doctors treated his injuries, as reported by The Times of India. 

Friends and supporters believe this wasn’t just some random crime. Just days before, Akbar gave a fiery speech slamming Pakistan’s current military leaders, especially Army Chief General Asim Munir.

The speech spread fast online. Now, a lot of people are connecting the dots, saying the attack could be payback for what he said.

Akbar’s always been a controversial figure, never shy about criticising the military establishment, especially General Munir. After working as an adviser in Imran Khan’s government, he moved to the UK and kept speaking out against Pakistan’s leadership.

British police are now digging into what happened. Officers have already gathered CCTV footage and other evidence from the scene. Akbar’s filed a formal complaint, and police are working to track down whoever did this.

Who is Shahzad Akbar? 

Shahzad Akbar is a Pakistani lawyer and politician who really stepped into the limelight during Imran Khan’s government. As one of Khan’s closest advisors on accountability, Akbar became the guy you’d see front and centre whenever the PTI talked about cleaning up corruption between 2018 and 2022.

Right after PTI took power in 2018, Akbar landed the job of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability. Basically, he was in charge of high-profile corruption cases and worked closely with watchdog agencies like the National Accountability Bureau. Later on, he led the Asset Recovery Unit, a team set up to track down money and assets hidden overseas by politicians and businessmen.

Before politics, Akbar built his career as a lawyer, even working on legal and human rights cases in the UK. But it was during Imran Khan’s term that he became a regular on TV, often defending the government and its anti-corruption drive against big names from the opposition, like Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari.

His time in office wasn’t smooth, though. Plenty of critics accused him of turning accountability efforts into a political weapon and focusing too much on opposition leaders.

He took heat for how he handled NAB reforms and a settlement with the UK’s National Crime Agency, especially after a chunk of money got sent back to Pakistan under PTI’s watch, a move that sparked a whole new wave of political arguments.

After Imran Khan was ousted in April 2022, Akbar stepped down and faded from the public eye. Still, people bring up his name whenever the PTI’s approach to accountability or the use of anti-corruption laws comes up in political debates.

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