ISLAMABAD: A threatening email that prompted New Zealand to cancel the Pakistan tour was sent from the Indian city of Mumbai, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry revealed on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference with Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the Information Minister said that Pakistan is facing a hybrid and fifth generation war.
He talked about a fake social media post that was shared in August with the name of former TTP commander Ehsanullah Ehsan, adding that the post had warned the New Zealand cricket team against touring Pakistan.
“The post states that the New Zealand cricket team should not go to Pakistan as Daesh will attack it,” the information minister said.
Chaudhary said that an article was published in Sunday Guardian Two days later, on 21 August, the newspaper’s bureau chief Abhinandan Mishra wrote the same thing: that the New Zealand cricket team could be under attack in Pakistan.
“article published in Sunday Guardian centered around the post of Ehsanullah Ehsan.”
The Information Minister revealed that five days later, on August 24, a threatening email was sent to the wife of New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill from an ID using the Tehreek-e-Labbaik alias. In the email, Fawad Chaudhry revealed that the New Zealand batsman had received death threats.
“It was said in the email that Guptill would be killed on his tour of Pakistan,” he said. He revealed, “We found after checking the ID that it was created at 01:05 am on August 24, 2021, while the email was sent at 11:59 am on August 25.”
He said the email was sent using ProtonMail, adding that those who knew about the service knew it was a secure email service. He said that Pakistan had asked Interpol to investigate the email and assist in identifying the culprit behind it.
He said that despite “all these threats”, the Black Caps did not cancel their tour and reached Pakistan.
“We have deployed a bigger security team for the New Zealand cricket team than the New Zealand army,” Sheikh Rashid said.
Chowdhury said that a chartered flight brought the New Zealand team to Pakistan on September 11.
“A detailed program of their protocol and security was issued by the Interior Ministry, which included two helicopters along with the squad,” the information minister said.
Chowdhury said the New Zealand team traveled with the Pakistani players from their hotel to the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on September 13, where they held a “full practice session”.
“I would like to remind you that the security agencies of Pakistan and New Zealand conducted investigations and came to the conclusion that all the threats issued on August 19, 21 and 24 were fake,” he said.
He added that the team traveled to the same stadium again on September 14 and conducted another training session with the same safety protocols.
New Zealand cancels Pakistan tour
Chowdhury said that New Zealand Cricket (NZC) informed the PCB and Pakistani authorities on September 17 at 10:30 am that the team had received information about a security threat from his government.
The information minister said the New Zealand cricket team itself is not much affected by the threat as the grounds and hotel environment are safe.
He said Prime Minister Imran Khan, despite being busy with official events in Dushanbe, called New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and requested her not to leave the tour at the last minute.
“However, he said that they [New Zealand government] He had received a ‘serious threat’ that his team would be attacked,” the information minister said.
second threatening email
The information minister said that another email, after the tour was canceled on September 17, was sent to the New Zealand team at 11:25 pm PST on the same day, from an ID generated by the name Hamza Afridi.
He said that Interpol Wellington had informed Interpol Pakistan about the threat on 18 September. The minister proceeded to read the transcript of the email:
“Dear New Zealand Cricket, you did wrong in going to Pakistan and now see what will happen to you. Your cricket team is not going anywhere now. Bombs will be placed everywhere, from hotel to your flight, now my man. No, they are coming to New Zealand. Pakistan Zindabad, Allah Hu Akbar.”
‘Threat email sent from device in India’
“This email was sent from a device in India,” he said. “The IP address of the email generated using the VPN was changed to show Singapore as the location,” the information minister revealed.
“The device which was used to send the email, further investigation revealed that it was operating 13 email IDs,” Choudhary said. “All the IDs were made in the name of Indian actors and drama personalities,” he said.
Chowdhury said the device used to send the threat email to the New Zealand squad belonged to an Indian man named Om Prakash Mishra from Maharashtra.
“It’s a very strong link for India,” he said. “a fake ID of [email protected] The New Zealand team was used to threaten. This threat was sent from Maharashtra.”