The father and uncle of Praveen Reddy, the MBA student who was critically stabbed on Friday night in his flat in London, visited him at the Royal Hospital in London on Monday morning.

Mr Praveen Reddy’s father, Mr Sudhakar Reddy, and uncle, Mr Madhava Reddy, arrived in London in the morning and were received by officials of the Indian High Commission at the airport and taken to the hospital.

Mr Praveen Reddy is to undergo major surgery to remove blood clots in his lungs. It is a long-drawn-out surgery, informed his family members.

Members of the family in Hyderabad said that the London Metropolitan Police have confirmed that Nishanth Puttapaka is the one who stabbed Mr Reddy. Mr Puttapaka is said to be a distant relative of the Reddys, and the two families are involved in a property dispute.

Mr Praveen’s friends in the city said the two men went to the UK at the same time with the help of a consultancy service, Universal Overseas Service at Kothapet in the city.

“One week before the incident, Praveen had called me and he hadn't mentioned anything bad about Nishanth. But we assume that Nishanth might have kept some grudge in his heart as Praveen’s family is having a dispute with his brother’s father-in-law,” said a friend of Mr Reddy who requested anonymity.

The copy of Mr Puttapaka’s passport obtained from the consultancy service gives his name as Nishanth Kumar Puttapaka, son of Puttapaka Narender Rao, living in R.B. Nagar, Bhuvanagiri, Nalgonda district.