KINGSTON: The Jamaican police, probing the murder of Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer, are analysing the hard drive of his computer and looking at the possibility that the crime was connected to match-fixing.

"We're exploring the possibility of match-fixing, but that's only one line of inquiry," Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields told a press conference on Monday at Kingston's Pegasus hotel, where Woolmer was found dead. Investigators have not found any mention about it in the computer.

The 58-year-old coach was found dead on March 18, a day after Pakistan's shock defeat to Ireland in the World Cup.

Mr. Shields, however, played down a British media report that the police were looking for three Pakistani fans. "The reality as I've said before is that there are many potential suspects in this investigation and even more potential witnesses, and we are nowhere the stage of being able to start naming names in terms of suspects."

The Times quoted Mr. Shields as saying the police were searching for three Pakistani fans who were with the players at the hotel. The paper said the three were believed to have left Jamaica soon after Woolmer was found dead.

Mr. Shields said the police would seek DNA samples from everyone in the hotel including members of the West Indies and Ireland teams. The police might also travel abroad to collect samples and question people, including those on other Caribbean islands for the World Cup. Mr. Shields said it might not be necessary to call people back to Jamaica but did not rule out that possibility.

According to The Jamaica Observer, a source close to the probe said the recording equipment was "archaic" and the footage was not clear, making it difficult for the sleuths to identify who entered and left Woolmer's room between the evening of March 17 and the next morning when he was found dead.

The claim was baseless and totally untrue, "There could be nothing farther from the truth, they are telling you a load of crap," Mr. Shields was quoted as saying.

Although the cameras only recorded activity in the corridors and the footage did not show who went into or came out of Woolmer's room, the CCTV footage was one of the most "crucial" pieces of evidence.

The police said it was "unlikely" that the killers were Jamaicans. They were confident that the killer or killers were known to Woolmer because there was no sign of forced entry and nothing was stolen. — PTI

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