Shahzad Akbar and Youtuber Adil Raja were reportedly targeted in a series of attacks last year that were planned and coordinated through a social media chat group, sources told a private media outlet. 

The assaults were carried out on December 24, December 31, 2025, and January 10, 2026, raising concerns about organized efforts to harm political figures.

Four men have been charged in connection with the attacks: Louis Regan, Karl Scott Blackbird, Clark Anthony McAulay, and Doneto Brammer. Three of the accused - Blackbird, McAulay, and Brammer - appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court wearing tracksuits, showing no visible tension. Public records indicate that the men collectively have convictions for more than 40 offences.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Blackbird and McAulay conspired to assault Adil Raja and cause bodily harm in late December 2025. Blackbird also conspired to assault Shahzad Akbar during the same period. 

Brammer, on December 31, allegedly possessed a revolver without authority and conspired to damage Akbar’s property by fire, intending to endanger his life. Regan faces charges of conspiring to assault both Raja and Akbar at their homes in Chesham and Cambridge on December 24. Investigators said the assailants filmed the attacks and shared the videos within the same chat group, which reportedly included a number still being traced.

In a separate development, Interpol has dropped the case against Shahzad Akbar in the high-profile Al-Qadir Trust case, confirming that he is no longer “subject to an Interpol Notice or Diffusion,” a private media outlet reported. Interpol sources said Akbar, the former accountability chief under former Prime Minister Imran Khan, is no longer a subject of interest, and his details have been removed from the Interpol database. The case had been entered at the request of the Pakistan Interior Ministry.

Reports quoted sources that told a private media outlet that Akbar, through his lawyers, argued that the cases against him were politically motivated, that the £190 million settlement had been approved by the federal cabinet, and that the funds were deposited into the state treasury, not paid to him personally.