April 04, 2007	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 15, 1428

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KINGSTON (Jamaica), April 3: Authorities investigating the mysterious murder of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer have closed in on the identity of the killers but may not reveal their name before the conclusion of the on-going World Cup on April 28.

According to well informed sources in the Jamaican police, the investigators have pretty much focussed their probe on the match-fixing mafia after some solid evidences came to fore courtesy the latest CCTV footage made available at the Pegasus hotel.

The sources disclosed that the footage shows two men going into Woolmer's room during the wee hours with no hint of return for quite some time. The footage, they say, was later digitised to ascertain the identity of the persons which has really helped in making things clear.

The investigators have also not ruled out the involvement of a professional hit-man in the death of the 58-year-old. "That's a possibility and Jeff Rees from the ICC Anti-corruption Unit is looking at the possible link of the murder with match-fixing," deputy Jamaican Police chief Mark Shields said.

It is now an established fact that Woolmer's murderers were known to him or else he would not have opened the door without even bothering to dress properly since he was found in his washroom, casually draped in a towel.

The Jamaican police has also been focusing on three Pakistani spectators who were in Jamaica to watch the first round match and one of them had stayed at the Pegasus hotel and also attended Pakistan team's press conference after the Ireland defeat.

In another related development, British tabloid Sunday Mirror quoted the Shields as saying that there seems to be a major breakthrough in the Woolmer’s murder mystery after the police received a tip off from an anonymous caller that the coach may have been killed by a poison called 'aconite'.

It further said that toxicologists termed ‘aconite’ as the perfect drug to mask a murder.

Meanwhile, Shields — a former Scotland Yard official — on Monday protested to the Pakistan diplomats over the non-stop speculations in media over the causes of Woolmer's death. He impressed upon the Asian diplomats from Washington that regular statements coming out from Pakistan were “just not acceptable.”

"Some Pakistan Cricket Board officials have suggested that Woolmer died of natural causes which is baffling for us. How could they know the causes of death sitting at the other corner of the world?" said the angry official.—Agencies