3 men charged with conspiracy targeting Imran Khan supporters in UK

London, Feb 6 (PTI) Three men face conspiracy charges in the UK after being arrested by the Metropolitan Police over what is suspected to be targeted attacks against the UK-based supporters of jailed former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan.  Asaf Afsar, 40, Mark Regan, 53, and Liam McGarry, 25, were charged with conspiracy to assault and occasion actual bodily harm in connection with attacks at an address in Cambridge and another in Chesham in late December 2025 and January 2026, the Met Police said.

They appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court in London on Thursday where it emerged that the targets were Mirza Shahzad Akbar, a human rights lawyer and former minister in Khan's cabinet, and journalist Adil Raja.  “The three men were all arrested on Tuesday, 3 February in connection with the ongoing investigation, which is being led by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing London," the Met Police said in a statement.  While Asfar and Regan, from Birmingham, are charged with two counts of conspiracy to assault and cause actual bodily harm, McGarry from Warwick is charged with one count of conspiracy to assault and cause actual bodily harm on December 24 last year.  The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintain this was a sophisticated and planned enterprise to undertake violent planned incidents, 'The Times' said in a court report.  The Met Police said a 55-year-old man in the Birmingham area and a 30-year-old man in the London area were also arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit assault and criminal damage, respectively.

Both men have since been released on bail for a court date in May “pending further enquiries”.  Further arrests in the Warwickshire and West Midlands Police force areas were carried out with support of Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands, and officers also conducted five searches at addresses in the West Midlands, Warwickshire and London in connection with the ongoing Met Police investigation.  Four other men previously charged in the case are next due to appear at the Old Bailey in London next Friday.

At Thursday's hearing, Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring remanded Afsar, Mark Regan and McGarry in custody to join these four men at the same court hearing next week.  Meanwhile, Imran Khan remains in prison in Pakistan since his arrest in August 2023.

His London-based sons, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, have been running a social media campaign for the international community to intervene on his behalf.  Earlier this week, Kasim posted on X: “My brother and I are trying to travel to Pakistan to see our father. For 914 days, he has been held in solitary confinement while his health deteriorates and he is denied access to independent medical care. Now the government is deliberately refusing to process our visas.   “Denying a prisoner treatment is cruel. Denying his children the right to see him is collective punishment. I call on international human rights organisations and governments to speak out and act before irreversible harm is done.” PTI AK GRS GRS GRS