NEWS

Suspect held in Woolmer case: Geo TV

March 23, 2007

Pakistan cricket captain Inzamam-ul Haq and assistant coach Mushtaq Ahmed were subjected to "long questioning" by the Jamaican police investigating the sensational murder of coach Bob Woolmer, a leading Pakistani channel reported on Friday.

Inzamam and Mushtaq were questioned the longest as they were the ones who interacted with Woolmer the most because of their positions in the team, Geo TV said.

The television channel also claimed that the Jamaican police had already arrested a man in connection with Woolmer's death, which the police are treating as a case of murder.

The Jamaican police will disclose the name of the person in the next eight to ten hours. The report claimed that the person, who is not a native of Jamaica, was in touch with members of the Pakistan, Sri Lankan and Indian teams.

- The match-fixing episode

Meanwhile, Geo TV CEO Hamid Mir told NDTV that the man was a frequent visitor of Woolmer and was in contact with many members of the Pakistan team.

Asked why the channel was discussing the names of Inzamam and Mushtaq, he said, "We are not discussing these two persons as prime culprits or involved in fixing.

"I think these two people are important because one is the captain and the other is the assistant coach, and they had some kind of an argument with Woolmer on Friday when the coach pushed them for net practice and they went outside the ground."

Mir said some Pakistan cricketers were asked questions about their links with this man.

"The players are disturbed, confused and said they don't know this person. But police is of the view that this man was in contact with several cricket teams."

Meanwhile, a former Pakistani Test cricketer claimed that Jamaican Police recovered contact numbers of some South Asian players, including some Indians, from the person arrested.

The player, who was named in the match-fixing scandal that rocked international cricket in the late '90s, said on condition of anonymity that police has shortlisted six suspects in the case.

"From what my informers have told me, they have arrested one man and he had telephone numbers of some players which are now being looked into," he said.

The former batsman said Woolmer's death could serve as a catalyst in finding out the truth behind match-fixing in international cricket and involvement of players, officials and umpires.

Citing the case of Marlon Samuels' links with an Indian bookie, he said this is a strong indication about the presence of match-fixing racket in international cricket.

"Don't forget just before the World Cup you also had a West Indian player Marlon Samuels being investigated for his links with an Indian bookmaker when he was playing in India.

"Obviously, I don't want to be identified because of the people who are involved in this fixing racket, but Woolmer's death should now reveal a lot of truth if the investigations are carried out professionally and without any interference from the ICC," he said.

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif, a central figure in exposing the match-fixing scandal, said he would not like to take any names but would be surprised if Woolmer's death does not reveal some shocking truths.

"You study the circumstances and you can see something fishy is there behind Woolmer's death. I will just say that fixing in matches had not stopped as claimed by the ICC, it was still going on," he said.

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