Rumour mills work overtime even as Pakistan leave Bay

Pakistan's forgettable fortnight in Jamaica, during which the team and the officials were part of the murder investigation of their coach Bob Woolmer ended in chaos...

Pakistan’s forgettable fortnight in Jamaica, during which the team and the officials were part of the murder investigation of their coach Bob Woolmer ended in chaos and confusion, symbolic of the last 15 days they have spent here.

Despite the fact that two Pakistan diplomats — first secretary Zahid Hafeez and counsellor Shahid Ahmed — were rushed from Washington to Kingston to ensure a smooth take-off for the players and officials, there were a few glitches that had the rumour mills running.

Within minutes of the two officials landing in Kingston, they were busy indulging in a lengthy discussion with the Deputy Commissioner of Police Mark Shields as the time for the Pakistan squad’s departure neared. By then reports were surfacing from Montego Bay, the team’s base for the last two days, that three members of the Pakistani tour party were being questioned once again. The Pakistan’s media manager Pervez Mir confirmed that the interaction could be called as questioning while manager Talat Ali told The Indian Express that he along with captain Inzamam-ul Haq and coach Mushtaq Ahmed were asked “for some clarifications regarding the questionnaire they had filed before Kingston.”

But it is learnt that the last- minute query was about a room change done by a Pakistan tour party member post-Woolmer’s death.

A media conference was called by the Pakistan diplomats but that was after they got a call from Mir about the team boarding the flight. Underplaying the importance of their presence in Kingston, first secretary with the Pakistan’s embassy in Washington, Hafeez explained that since there was no High Commission in Kingston, they were here to interact with the Jamaican government officials and the police on issues regarding the murder of Woolmer.

Meanwhile, Shields stuck to his guns of the police being in the middle of a thorough investigation and virtually every member who has stayed at Hotel Pegasus — the team hotel for the Pakistan team where the murder took place — has been fingerprinted and DNA swabs taken.

Shields said that they were looking at the match-fixing-bookie angle but they didn’t want to make their investigation one-dimensional and were going ahead with an open mind.

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Speaking about the future course of action, the DCP said, “we have taken the close circuit television tapes of the hotel internal security in their possession and we will be soon scrutinising them.”

When asked if it was fair to let the Pakistan team go even before the police have had a look at the all-important tapes, Shields said: “The Pakistan team has cooperated all the while and as of now there isn’t any evidence to stop them.” So is there an understanding whereby the Pakistan squad members can be called back in case some fresh evidence surfaced?

Both Shields and Hafeez were of the view that it was too early to speak about that eventuality. “Since that isn’t an issue right now, I don’t want to speak about that. We will walk the bridge when it comes,” said Shields.