ISLAMABAD: A threatening email sent to the New Zealand cricket squad that forced the side to cancel their scheduled series against Pakistan was originated in India, Pakistani Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Wednesday.
New Zealand’s cricket squad arrived home on Wednesday after abandoning their tour of Pakistan last week citing a security threat. New Zealand Cricket said they were aware of a “specific and credible” threat but did not give details.
Hussain said that Islamabad had sought Interpol's assistance for details about the email address from which it was sent.
"The device used to send the threat to the New Zealand team belonged to India," Hussain said at a press conference in Islamabad. "A fake ID was created but it was sent from [the Indian state of] Maharashtra."
He said the device belonged to an Indian man identified as Omprakash Mishra from Maharashtra, describing it as a “very strong link” to India.
"A fake ID of [email protected] was used to send a threat to the New Zealand team," the minister said. “The IP address of the email generated was changed using a VPN (virtual private network) to show Singapore as the location.”
Interpol Wellington informed Interpol Pakistan about the threat on September 18, a day after the tour was cancelled, according to Hussain.
“Dear New Zealand Cricket, you did wrong to go to Pakistan and now see what will happen to you. Your cricket team is not going anywhere now,” read the email text shown to journalists at the press conference. “In every place, the bombs will be placed now, from the hotel to your flight. My men will not forgive you, they are coming, New Zealand. Pakistan Zindabad, Allah O Akbar.”
Hussain said the device that was used to send the email was operating 13 other email IDs as well. “All these IDs were generated in the names of Indian actors and drama celebrities,” he said.
India’s external affairs ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported. Nuclear-armed neighbors and arch-rivals Pakistan and India regularly blame each other for acts of violence, charges each government denies.
Pakistan's interior ministry has registered a case and requested Interpol for information on the email ID of Hamza Afridi.
The information minister said that Pakistan was facing a hybrid and fifth generation warfare. Giving a timeline of fake threats to New Zealand cricket team, he said that a Facebook post with the name of Ehsanullah Ehsan, a former spokesperson of the Pakistani Taliban, surfaced on August 19, saying that ISKP (Islamic State Khorasan Province) could target the New Zealand team in Pakistan.
Hussain said following this post, bureau chief of The Sunday Guardian, Abhinandan Mishra, published an article, claiming that the New Zealand team might face a terrorist attack in Pakistan. According to its website, The Sunday Guardian was founded by politician MJ Akbar, who served as the Indian minister for external affairs in the Narendra Modi-led government till 2018.
Five days later on August 24, another threatening email was sent to New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill’s wife from an ID with the username Tehreek-e-Labbaik, according to the Pakistani information minister.
“Guptill will be killed during tour in Pakistan,” the minister read out the email text to reporters in Islamabad. “After we investigated the ID, it was found that it was created on August 24, 2021 at 01:05am and sent at 11:59am on August 25.”
Hussain said it was sent using Proton Mail because its users knew it was a secure email service.
“I would just like to inform you that both Pakistan and New Zealand’s security agencies had probed and arrived at the conclusion that the threats issued on August 19, 21 and 24 were all fake,” he said.
The information minister said the New Zealand team held training sessions as per routine, with stringent security arrangements in place.
In the morning of September 17, he continued, New Zealand Cricket informed the Pakistan Cricket Board that they had received a security alert from their government and decided to pull out of the tour unilaterally, without sharing any details about the threats.
Hussain said the West Indies are scheduled to travel to Pakistan in December. “A threat has already been issued to the team,” he said, adding that this was also issued using a Proton Mail account.
"This is unfortunate. We believe this is a campaign against international cricket,” he said. “The ICC [International Cricket Council] and other bodies must take notice.”
About England’s decision to cancel the tour, he said British High Commissioner Christian Turner had made it clear that his government’s advisory for Pakistan was not being changed.
The cancellation of the tours has resulted in financial losses to Pakistan's state broadcaster and “we are evaluating it, and if our legal team allows, we will be suing the ECB [England and Wales Cricket Board],” he said.
Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the cancellation of these cricket tours would not isolate Pakistan. “We cannot be isolated … a day will come when the teams of the world will come to Pakistan,” he added.
International cricket teams stopped visiting Pakistan after the 2009 attack on Sri Lankan players in Lahore. However, international matches partially resumed in May 2015, when Zimbabwe toured the South Asian country, followed by the West Indies and Sri Lankan cricket teams.
Successive Pakistani governments and the PCB have tried hard to convince international players to visit the country by offering them huge sums in remuneration for local leagues, along with fool-proof security arrangements.
