MQM-P’s Khawaja Izhar injured in car accident

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Khawaja Izharul Hasan was injured in a road accident near Karachi's Toll Plaza in the early hours of Sunday.

Senior MQM-P leader Faisal Sabzwari confirmed to the media that Hasan and his bodyguards sustained injuries in the accident. “Hasan sustained head injuries while his bodyguard was critically injured,” Sabzwari said, adding that they have been shifted to a private hospital at Stadium Road for medical attention. The condition of the MQM-P leader was said to be out of danger. Hasan was returning from Ghotki after meeting Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had been in town to address a rally, when his car met with a mishap.

“Three of Hasan’s guards were injured in the accident, with two of them in critical condition,” MQM-P leader Amir Khan said. He added, “Hasan’s bodyguard was travelling in the car behind him and was also hit. More damage occurred with the second car being hit.”

Moreover, MPA Sanjay Perwani who was travelling with Hasan at the time of the accident said, he was travelling in the last car. He shared, that there was a ditch dug up on the road due to some construction work nearby. “There were no signs indicating that a ditch was there. Due to the construction work, the driver could not see the ditch and the car crashed,” Perwani said. “There was an alternative route near the site of the accident but there was no sign telling us that.”

In 2017, Hasan escaped an assassination attempt in which two people, including a policeman, were killed. Hasan, the leader of the opposition in Sindh Assembly at that time, was going home after offering Eid-ul-Azhar prayers when two suspected attackers ambushed his vehicle in Bufferzone area of the metropolis. Hasan remained unharmed in the incident, however, an attacker was killed during the retaliatory fire by one of the guards.