Police say there is not enough evidence against Haider Ali. The cricketer gets his passport back.
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| Haider Ali, a Pakistani cricketer, attends a warm-up session in Melbourne on November 13, 2022. |
London: Pakistani international batsman Haider Ali has been acquitted in a rape case, in which Greater Manchester Police found insufficient evidence to support the charges against him.
Sources from Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) exclusively confirmed to Geo News that the case against Ali has been closed due to insufficient evidence to support the allegations.
Ali was represented by Barrister Moin Khan, a criminal law expert.
The batsman was being investigated after a British-Pakistani woman accused him of raping her in a Manchester hotel. Police received a report on August 4 and arrested the 24-year-old cricketer the same day.
She filed her complaint four days later, about two weeks after the initial meeting.
Police sources told Geo News that Ali is now free to leave the country. He has already obtained his passport from the police station and can travel from the UK at any time.
During his police interview, Ali denied the rape allegation. He told investigators that he knew the woman well and that they were friends, adding that the accusation came as a shock to him.
Ali was arrested in the players' canteen at the Spitfire County Cricket Ground in Kent and taken to Canterbury Police Station by Kent Police officers.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had said that Ali had been suspended for the duration of the criminal investigation.
Ali has represented Pakistan in 35 Twenty 20 Internationals since making his debut in 2020, as well as two One-Day Internationals.