BANGLADESH

A Pakistani national detained in Dhaka admitted to detectives that he was involved in match-fixing in the Bangladesh Premier League T-20 tournament, police sources said.

Detectives said they found evidence to prove his involvement and that they were going to seek Interpol's help to get financial transaction data of suspect Sajid Khan's bank account in Pakistan.

Detective Branch (DB) of police on Monday placed Sajid on a two-day remand, a day after the Bangladesh Cricket Board authorities handed him over to Mirpur police in connection with suspicious activities around Mirpur Outdoor Stadium. A cricket board official also filed a case with Mirpur Police Station in this connection.

A senior police official yesterday told The Daily Star that during the remand 35-year-old Sajid admitted that he had contacted several players of different teams to fix matches.

The official said they were preparing to seek the help of Interpol to get the details of Sajid's account with Silk Bank in Pakistan.

Police sources said Sajid came to Dhaka on February 10 posing as an import-export businessman but since his arrival he had always been around some players.

“When the players stayed in a Dhaka hotel, he stayed at a nearby hotel; when the players went to Chittagong, he went there. When the players returned to Dhaka, he also returned,” said a police official.

Hailing from Gulshan Zahur in Karachi, Sajid himself was once a player in the domestic cricket league and he is a close friend of a Pakistani player playing in BPL, sources said. They said Sajid developed connections with other players of the league by using his “friend”.

According to sources, another Pakistani national had also come to Bangladesh for match fixing but he left the country on Friday.