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Pakistani paper blames India for 'fixing' scandal

Last updated on: September 02, 2010 15:51 IST

Pakistani media has blamed India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for the match fixing scandal, and says that India wants to oust Pakistan from international cricket.

A Pakistani newspaper, Daily Mail, carried a story with the title 'The Lord's episode another RAW ploy'. It says International Cricket Council's chief Sharad Pawar has been working to get the Pakistan team banned for three to five years and the bookie, Mazhar Majeed, is a RAW man, who was introduced to Indian cricket by RAW officials.

The report further says: "The bookie met Pakistan players in South Africa at a dinner for the first time in 2009. The English journalist got 50,000 pounds to organise the fake sting operation from RAW and the Indian High Commission in London played a key role in the bookie's bail."

According to the report, Pawar and Scotland Yard are making futile efforts to involve Pakistani players in spot-fixing with the desire of a 2-3 years ban on Pakistan.

The ICC chief and its members, who work for RAW, were the masterminds behind all this planned mess, with special focus on ending the career of new teenage pace sensation Mohammad Amir, the report says.

It also says that the picture of Salman Butt along with the bookie and some reporter is clearly fabricated.

Furthermore, the video of the bookie, Majeed, giving a jacket containing the pounds to Wahab Riaz is also fabricated, the paper said.

The Daily Mail's report says that the bookie is a RAW front man and holds a key position in RAW's illicit fund generation programs. He was merely a ticket tout at movie theatres in Mumbai till a few years back when he was handpicked by RAW, like they did it in the Chhota Rajan case, and was put under the command of RAW's Special Operations Division SOD, headed by Rajan, where he was trained for sports betting, it adds.

The report further indicates that Majeed was introduced to different bookies in Mumbai, Delhi, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Dubai by RAW officials.

In 2007, RAW arranged Majeed's meeting with India's star players, like Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Dravid, so that they could further introduce Majeed to different players of other teams -- especially Pakistan and other top cricketers around the world, like Shane Watson.

"In September 2009, an Indian businessman Vijay Aaloowalia, based in Cape Town, South Africa, hosted a dinner for Pakistani and Indian cricketers on the sidelines of Champions Trophy. Bookie Majeed was also invited to that dinner where some Pakistani players were introduced to him for the first time. Though the trick didn't work and the Pakistan team defeated India easily in that tournament, Majeed remained in touch with Pakistan players from then onwards," the report adds.

The British police is currently carrying out investigation into allegations that players Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif took bribes to fix incidents during the fourth Test against England last week.