PSL spot-fixing: 'Nasir Jamshed, suspect arrested in UK, released on bail'

LONDON: Britain's National Crime Agency has arrested two men in their thirties in connection with bribery offences as part of an ongoing investigation into international cricket match spot-fixing.

The British agency said the men were arrested on Monday, but declined to name them. However, sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board and the International Cricket Council said that the arrested men were former Pakistani batsman Nasir jamshed and a person named Yousuf, who is a suspect in the PSL spot-fixing investigation.

The National Crime Agency, in a press statement, said: "Two men in their thirties have been arrested by National Crime Agency officers in connection with bribery offences as part of an ongoing investigation into international cricket match spot-fixing."

"The men were arrested on Monday 13 February and have been released on bail until April 2017 pending further enquiries."

"As part of the ongoing investigation we are working closely with the Pakistan Cricket Board and International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption units. The Pakistan Cricket Board has launched its own investigation which has resulted in the suspension of three players," the NCA said.

Read: PSL hit by corruption scandal: Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif suspended

Sources within Pakistan Cricket Board told a Geo News correspondent that the arrests have been made in connection with the PSL scandal, which saw Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Lateef getting suspended from the league and returning home earlier this month.

Suspended players Sharjeel Khan (left), Khalid Latif (right)

"Both the players, when investigated by the PCB's anti-corruption unit, had on camera confessed to have met Yousuf, who offered money for spot-fixing," sources said.

Sources further said Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif have also told PCB officials that the meeting was facilitated by Nasir Jamshed.

They stated Jamshed, on a telephone call, had asked them to see his friend, who came from abroad, after which the two players reportedly met Yousuf at a Dubai restaurant.

Sources in the British National Crime Agency said the two were presented in court after their arrest on Monday and were released on bail.

Wife says 'no charges against Jamshed'

"We have as a family been shocked and upset over the recent allegations," Dr Samara Nasir, Jamshed's wife, told Geo.tv in a statement via text message.

"I can confirm there (have) been no charges against Nasir," she said.

Jamshed's suspension

The PCB, on Monday, provisionally suspended Jamshed from all forms of cricket for violating PCB's anti-corruption code.

Also read: PCB suspends Nasir Jamshed

Though the board did not officially elaborate the nature and timing of violation, but it was understood that the move was linked to the PSL corruption scandal.

The PSL kicked off with a glitzy ceremony at the Dubai Sports City Stadium on February 09, but was soon hit with a corruption scandal involving Islamabad United players.

Khan and Latif met a suspicious man at a restaurant in Dubai, wherein the two batsmen were given special kind of grease to apply on handles of their bats, according to sources. That was meant to help the bookmakers present in the stadium identify them. Yet, the players were already on the radar of PCB’s anti-corruption unit.

Who is Yousuf?

A suspected bookie and a British national, Yousuf Anwar, is believed to have met cricketers participating in Pakistan Super League.

The suspect is a B-category cricketer from Sheffield, UK, who has played league cricket in Greater Manchester and is married to a Canadian woman.

But it is not yet confirmed independently that Yousuf was amongst the two men arrested.

Pictured: suspected bookmaker Yousuf

The suspect apparently has links to top elite of Pakistani cricketers and local players are shocked to come to know of his alleged involvement in PSL corruption Scandal.

His social media accounts are deactivated and his phone is switched off.

Latif 'willing to become approver'

Khan and Latif were not just grilled after the first match of Islamabad United, but they were also shown evidences. The two players were then put on a flight back home.

Latif is however willing to become an approver in the spot-fixing case, sources confided to Geo News Tuesday.

Related: Khalid Latif willing to become approver in PSL spot-fixing case

After being sent home from Dubai, Latif reportedly started consultations with lawyers for a legal course of action. He expressed his willingness to become approver in the case in a video statement before the PCB on February 9.

A formal charge-sheet is being prepared by the PCB against the two national cricketers for spot-fixing in PSL, a reliable source told Geo.tv.

The highly-placed source told Geo.tv on Sunday that the PCB had enough evidence that two cricketers agreed to spot fixing in meeting with the suspected bookie, Yousaf.