LONDON: The British police have referred the complaints of cricketer Zulqarnain Haider that he was receiving threatening calls back to the Pakistani authorities for investigations, sources say. Zulqarnain was scheduled to leave London on Sunday.
On Wednesday, Zulqarnain approached the Metropolitan Police, and the media, and claimed that he had received threatening calls from Pakistan, warning him of consequences upon return to Pakistan.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Met Police’s Wandsworth unit looked into the matter. The police soon arrived at the conclusion that since the alleged crime was committed outside the UK, it would leave it to the Pakistani authorities to investigate. The alleged threatening calls were played on various Pakistani TV channels on Saturday in which the caller used obscene language against the cricketer.
These audio recordings were provided to the TV channels but it was learnt that between Wednesday and Saturday, various TV channels and newspapers were approached by people linked to these calls to sell the audio for as much as Rs1.5 million but when no one showed any interest, these tapes were released free to the media.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik Friday said threatening telephone calls to the former wicket-keeper had been traced but he did not elaborate as to who made these calls and how the calls were recorded.
Zulqarnain agreed to return to Pakistan after meeting Rehman Malik in London who promised him that he will help his rehabilitation in Pakistan but he confirmed to this correspondent on Thursday that he had cancelled his planned return to Pakistan and had instructed his lawyer to write to the Home Office to re-open his case as he had received fresh threats, following the withdrawal of his asylum application a few days earlier.
When the news came out, Rehman Malik personally spoke to Zulqarnain and requested him to stay true to the original deal as well as tasked a senior High
Commission official, working solely and directly on orders of Rehman Malik, to ensure that he returns to Pakistan as planned. Zulqarnain has said that he will name the people who are threatening him after he returns to Pakistan.