SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT

Pakistani police arrest bookies behind threats to keeper

KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistani police have busted a gang of bookmakers who were behind death threats to wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider, they said on Wednesday.

pakistani-police-arrest-bookies-behind-t-1458181066-large.jpg

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


Skip to article content

Haider fled the Pakistan team hotel in Dubai last November hours before a one-day international against South Africa.

He flew to London where he applied for asylum after saying that an unknown person had threatened him for not cooperating in fixing the one-day series.

"We arrested eight bookmakers yesterday and some of them have confessed they had the threatening calls made to Zulqarnain," Nasir Qureshi, a senior investigating police officer, told Reuters.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

The bookmakers running an illegal den were arrested from the Sambrial area near Sialkot in the eastern province of Punjab.

Haider returned to Islamabad last week after getting reassurances from Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik about his safety and security.

Qureshi said the arrested men appeared to be well-connected and deeply involved in gambling on international matches.

"We have recovered around 250 mobile and landline sets from them, some ammunition, records and computers," he said.

Haider is still in Islamabad and is awaiting security clearance from authorities to go to his hometown of Lahore.

The 25-year old wicketkeeper has been told to appear before the Pakistan Cricket Board disciplinary committee to respond to charges that he left the team without informing the team management, which was a violation of his contract.

Pakistan cricket has been rocked by fixing probes in the last year.

(Editing by Mark Meadows)


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world