Pak MP robbed of gold-plated watch worth over Rs18m in Barcelona

BARCELONA: Thieves snatched an expensive gold-plated watch worth more than Rs18.4 million from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Abdul Qadir Gilani in the Spanish city of Barcelona before fleeing the scene.

“I bought it 13 years ago, back when gold was cheaper; now it is three times higher,” said Abdul Qadir Gilani. “I was with my family, and the watch was in my hand,” he added, noting that his host in Barcelona was also robbed. “As long as there is life, there is the world; such things come and go,” the PPP lawmaker remarked.

The current value of the stolen timepiece, which Gilani said he purchased long before gold prices surged, makes the theft one of the costlier street crimes involving a Pakistani public figure abroad in recent memory.

The Gilani family of Multan is a prominent political dynasty. Three brothers - Abdul Qadir Gilani, Ali Musa Gilani and newly elected MNA Qasim Gilani - are member of the National Assembly. They are the sons of former PM and incumbent Senate Chairman Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani. Their other brother, Ali Haider Gilani, is a PPP MPA in the Punjab Assembly. In a rare coincidence, MNAs Ali Musa and Qasim, along with Ali Haider, were all born on the same day - April 10, 1986 - making the present NA home to a set of twins in the form of Ali Musa and Qasim.