A photograph taken outside the Pakistan team’s London hotel in July, shows Salman Butt in the driver’s seat of the Aston Martin DB9 belonging to Mazhar Majeed, giving an indication that the suspended Test skipper and his agent have a close relationship.
The Pakistan cricket team is in the midst of a betting scam, where fast bowlers Mohammed Amir and Mohammed Asif are alleged to have bowled pre-arranged no-balls in the Lord’s Test against England.
A British tabloid named four Pakistani players and three others of being involved in a spot-fixing racket. It alleged that a Pakistani businessman Majeed had paid bribes to the players to bowl no-balls and wides in the series and in the Lords test.
The photo shows Butt sitting in the driver’s seat of the Aston Martin DB9 belonging to Majeed, who is on the back seat with wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal sitting beside him in the passenger seat.
Majeed is snapped talking to the players in the car before getting out to make a phone call in private, the Daily Mail reports. He is then snapped taking a seat on a wall outside the hotel as he speaks with Butt. Majeed and Butt face each other as they speak before teammate Akmal joins to listen to the conversation.
The photos emerged as investigators revealed that Majeed ran up a four-figure bill on his mobile phone in the days leading up to Pakistan’s Test series against England.
The paper reports that marked notes paid by undercover reporters working for the News of the World as part of the sting are believed to have been found in Butt’s belongings.