PML-N’s Talal Chaudhry brutally beaten, in hospital

Former minister of state for interior Talal Chaudhry has been seriously injured in a brutal attack by unidentified individuals, and party sources said that his bones were also fractured.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader’s family sources told The Express Tribune that Talal was on his way to Madina Town from home when unidentified persons stopped his car and tortured him.

However, videos circulating on social media painted a different picture. According to them, the PML-N leader, holding his left arm claiming it to be fractured, was seen outside the house of a “party’s woman MNA”. In one of the videos, the name plate on the bungalow read ‘Rajab Ali Baloch House’.

In another video, Talal was seen claiming that he was called to the house, when an unidentified person stopped him from talking to the police.

In all the videos, Talal kept holding his left arm with his right hand with a bit of swelling on the left side of his face. Police were seen all over the place.

The family sources said that Talal suffered a left shoulder injury and severe injuries to other parts of his body, and has been shifted to Lahore due to lack of an orthopedic surgeon in Faisalabad.

Shahbaz Gill, the special assistant to the PM on political communication, took to Twitter to condemn the incident.

“The incident of harassment of Talal Chaudhry's esteemed MNA is unfortunate. The government will take action on this and will protect Ayesha from this hooliganism in any case.”

Gill also urged the Faisalabad police to take immediate action and deploy security at the home of the “Hon'ble member assembly”. “And take legal action.”

He said that the incident had brought forth the real face of the PML-N.

Gill also claimed that Talal was a close and reliable colleague of Maryam Safdar, the PML-N vice president.

“This move of Talal is a shameful one for Maryam and all of the PML-N.

“Even in the past, whether it is Khawaja Asif or Talal Chaudhry, they have been using nasty words against women.”

The PM’s aide chided the PML-N vice president, tweeting: “Maryam Safdar should fear God.”

He said, “Instead of putting pressure on the harassed woman to make a statement in Talal’s favour, the woman should be supported and Talal removed from the party.”

According to Gill’s information, “The woman is being pressured to give a statement in Talal’s favour.”

On the other hand, the PML-N sources said that Talal was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Lahore due to serious injuries. “He is being kept in the executive room of the hospital as he suffered severe head and back injuries, and fractured bones from various locations.”

He will undergo surgery as per the instructions of the doctors, they added.

Party sources also said that Talal was allegedly tortured by the brothers of a PML-N MNA. The woman MNA also resides in the same city as Talal Chaudhry – Faisalabad, they added.

Online reported, “An affair between the woman MNA and Talal was going on for a long period. Later, the woman MNA left Talal and established a relationship with another political leader. Talal tried to enter the house of the MNA. Her brothers caught him and thrashed him.”

However, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the reports that brothers of a woman MNA targeted Talal are “incorrect”.

Online reported quoting sources that the woman MNA informed Maryam about the entire situation and said she does not want to remain an MNA. However, the PML-N is hiding the matter of her resignation.

Talal however denied the media reports claiming that he was thrashed by the brothers of his party’s woman MNA belonging to Faisalabad.

“The sources based media reports regarding me are not based on facts. I will issue a detailed statement about the incident,” Talal tweeted in Urdu while condemning “some government officials for politicising the matter”.