Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry revealed on Wednesday that the threatening email to the New Zealand squad – that forced it to call off tour to Pakistan – was sent from India.
Addressing a press conference along with Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, the information minister said Pakistan was facing a hybrid and fifth-generation war.
Fawad spoke about a fake social media post that was shared with former TTP commander Ehsanullah Ehsan’s name, adding that the post warned the New Zealand team against touring Pakistan.
“The post stated that the New Zealand cricket team should not go to Pakistan as Daesh would attack it,” he said.
The minister said that an article was published in The Sunday Guardian two days later (August 21) by the paper’s bureau chief Abhinandan Mishra, who wrote the same thing: “The New Zealand cricket team could get attacked in Pakistan.”
“The article centered around Ehsanullah Ehsan’s post,” Fawad said.
“Indian journalist Abhinandan Mishra has close relations with former Afghan vice president Amrullah Saleh,” he added.
The information minister revealed that on August 24, a threatening email was sent to New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill’s wife, using the tag “Tehreek-e-Labbaik”. The email, Fawad said, carried a death threat.
“When we investigated the ID, it was found that the email was created on August 24, 2021, at 01:05 am, while it was sent at 11:59 am on August 25,” he disclosed.
He said the email was sent using ProtonMail and added that those who knew about the service were aware that it is a secure email service.
Fawad said Pakistan had asked Interpol to assist it further in probing the email and the perpetrator behind it.
He said that despite “all these threats”, New Zealand did not cancel their tour and arrived in Pakistan.
“We deployed a security team for the cricket squad larger than New Zealand’s army itself,” said Sheikh Rashid.
Fawad said that a chartered flight brought the New Zealand team on September 11 while the T20 squad arrived in the country the next day.
“A detailed programme containing their protocols and security was issued by the interior ministry, which included the squad being accompanied by two helicopters,” Fawad said.
The New Zealand cricket team, on September 13, travelled from their hotel to the Rawalpindi Stadium, with the Pakistani players, where they had a “full practice session”.
“I would just like to remind 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 noted.
He said the team again travelled to the stadium on September 14 and held another training session there, with the same security protocols in place.
Fawad said the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) informed the PCB and Pakistani authorities at 10:30 am on September 17 that the team has received information of a security threat from its government.
He said that the New Zealand cricket team itself was not affected much by the threat as the environment at the ground and the hotel was secure.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had, despite being busy with official engagements in Dushanbe, called New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern by phone, requesting her not to abandon the tour at the last minute.
She, however, said they [New Zealand government] had received a ‘critical threat’ that their team would be attacked,” said the information minister.
The Second Email
Fawad said a second email was sent to the New Zealand cricket team the same day after tour cancellation was announced at 11:25 pm PST, from an ID generated under the name Hamza Afridi.
He said that Interpol Wellington intimated Interpol Pakistan about the threat on September 18, after it was sent. The minister read out the email’s transcript:
“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. In every place, the bombs will be placed now, from the hotel to your flight. My men will not forgive you, they are coming to New Zealand. Pakistan Zindabad, Allah hu Akbar,” read the minister.
“This email ID was sent from India,” he said. “The IP address of the email generated was changed using a VPN to show Singapore as the location,” revealed the information minister.
“The device which was used to send the email, further investigation revealed, was operating 13 email IDs,” said Chaudhry. “All IDs were made generated on the names of Indian actors and drama celebrities,” he added.
Fawad said that the device used to send the threatening email to the New Zealand cricket team belonged to an Indian man named Om Prakash Mishra from Maharashtra.
“This is a very strong link to India. a fake ID of ha*************@gm***.com was used to send a threat to the New Zealand team. This threat was sent from Maharashtra,” he added.
