Islamabad, Aug 31 (IANS) The sleepy Moonshi Mohallah of Faisalabad has shot into global prominence as suspected British match-fixer Mazhar Majeed’s roots are in this textile city.
Bookie Mazhar was arrested by London Metropolitan Saturday after The News of World revealed, in an sting operation, that the property tycoon had taken 150,000 pounds before Pakistani fast bowlers Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir bowled no balls in the last Test at the precise moments promised to the undercover reporter.
Residents of Moonshi Mohallah were shocked to hear that Mazhar’s name was linked to the spot-fixing saga. Mazhar’s father Abdul Majeed was highly respected in the neighbourhood. He migrated to Britain in 1962 after completing his Bachelors from the Agriculture University in Faisalabad.
Abdul’s three children — one daughter and two sons Azhar and Mazhar — were born and raised in England.
‘We don’t know the children because they were born in UK but we do know that their father Abdul has never been involved in any wrongdoing,’ a shopkeeper Saleem was quoted as saying by Dunya TV.
‘Majeed comes here once every year to have a look at the old residence and goes back to UK after spending a few days,’ another resident Kamran Dar said.
‘They have made UK their permanent home. What can the father do if the children grow up to become bookies,’ he said with an element of anguish in his voice.
The ancestral home of the Majeed family is now locked and one of their relatives Shahid Gogi, also a British national, takes care of the property in their absence.
Mazhar’s paternal grandfather Haji Abdullah reportedly built the house in Munshi Mohalla and used to reside there for several years.
Mazhar’s maternal grandfather used to perform duties at the famous clock tower of Faisalabad.
(Awais Saleem can be contacted at great_wall165@yahoo.co.uk)
