In another development, the investigations conducted by the Daily Mail have revealed that the ICC President Sharad Pawar, an Indian national is making an effort to involve Pakistani players in spot-fixing with the intent of seeing it banned for the next two to three years. The investigation also reveals that the ICC Chief and its members, The News of the World and the notorious Indian intelligence agency RAW have masterminded this mud-slinging against the Pakistan cricket team at a very crucial time, where the international world sought the return of international cricket in Pakistan, with Zimbabwe promising to tour the country later this year.
The investigations have revealed that the picture of Salman Butt along with Mazhar Majeed, the high profile bookie, has been fabricated and created in Photoshop. The daily mail in its report has indicated that Mazhar Majeed is supposedly a RAW front man, holding a key position with the agency’s fund for the generation of illicit money, which includes the Mafia wings, running brothel houses, prostitution syndicates and gambling dens which were betting on cricket and soccer.
According to the report, Majeed worked in a movie theatre at a lowly position when he was handpicked by RAW and trained under the command of RAW’s Special Operation Division SOD, headed by Chhota Rajan where he was trained for sports betting. The Daily Mail in their investigation also noted that Majeed was introduced to different bookies in Mumbai, Delhi, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Dubai by RAW officials. These findings divulge that in 2007, RAW arranged a meeting between Mazhar Majeed and Indian cricket stars Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Dravid so that they can further introduce Majeed to different players of international cricket teams, especially cricketers from Pakistan.
Furthermore, the findings disclosed that in 2009, an Indian businessman Vijay Aloowalia based in CapeTown, South Africa hosted a dinner for Pakistani and Indian cricketers where Majeed was introduced to some Pakistani players. In their investigations, the Daily Mail has further indicated that RAW’s undercover officials working at the Indian High Commission at London held meetings with British journalists after which they finally succeeded in convincing a certain journalist to organize an operation which would go on to implicate the Pakistani players ahead of their ODI series.
The investigations further go on to point out that the quick bail of Mazhar Majeed was also sponsored by the Indian High Commission and RAW since the Indian diplomats at London were seen to be highly active following the arrest of Majeed. The Daily Mails investigations conclude that the basic aim of RAW was to play havoc with the careers of Pakistani players and when Sharad Pawar was taken on board the ICC President supported the plan to get the Pakistan Cricket team suspended for a period of three to five years from international cricket. Following the accusations, Malcolm Speed was quick to put forward the suggestion of banning the Pakistan team based on what could be termed “yellow journalism.”
It is also imperative to mention that India and Pakistan have had a strained relationship, due to the Kashmir dispute, with Indian’s blaming Pakistan for the insurgency in the valley. Pakistan has blamed India for multiple insurgencies through Afghanistan in the regions of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and Balochistan. The Pakistani foreign office claiming that they had proofs of Indian involvement in the insurgency.
This report might be termed as speculation and a conspiracy theory, however only the final report by the Scotland Yard can shed more light on the truth of the betting scam that has considerably damaged Pakistan cricket.
