Tags:
Journalism of Courage
England Test cricketer Usman Afzaal is hiding in a 8220;safe house8221; after a betting gang posing as cops ransacked his family house.
According to British tabloid,8217;News Of the World8217;,33-year-old Afzaal is under police protection after being targeted by a shady betting syndicate.
8220;Test match ace Usman Afzaal,33,is being guarded at a 8220;safe house8221; after a gang posing as cops ransacked his family home with a fake warrant,8221; the report said.
Afzaal8217;s family reported the unusual incident to a Nottingham police station next morning but they were informed that no such record of investigation existed.
Afzaal8217;s brother Kamran had also received an anonymous blackmail call,asking for a sum of 100,000 pounds within 24 hours,failing which his family would be reported to cricket8217;s anti-corruption squad,the report said.
The family had to leave their three-storey townhouse on the outskirts of Nottingham after the bizarre episode.
8220;They have gone. They have been under police protective custody for a couple of months and have moved out,8221; a neighbour at the family home,was quoted as saying by the tabloid last night.
Scotland Yard8217;s Serious and Organised Crime Command were tipped off by Customs officers who had learned of the menacing demand.
8220;It is believed the gang involved may have links to an illegal gambling ring run by an Indian fixer based in the Middle-East,8221; the report said.
Pakistan-born England cricketer Afzaal featured in three Ashes Tests against Australia in 2001.
