ICC elite panel umpire Asad Rauf of Pakistan on Tuesday denied he was in a relationship with Bollywood starlet Leena Kapoor or had promised to marry her. Rauf, 56, conceded that Kapoor was an “acquaintance”.
Kapoor complained to police on Monday that Rauf, whom she met in Sri Lanka six months ago and exchanged phone numbers with, had gone back on his promise to marry her.
“I do remember the girl. She was keen to be part of the Bigg Boss TV show and wanted me to put in a word for her,” Rauf told The Indian Express over the phone from Pakistan.
“I don’t remember where I met her,” Rauf said. “During our travels around the world and at the Indian Premier League parties we meet a number of fans and people in the show business. They request you for pictures and we oblige.”
A picture of Rauf and Kapoor, with the starlet leaning heavily against the umpire with an arm around his neck, appeared in the Mumbai tabloid Mid-Day Tuesday.
Kapoor insisted Rauf had betrayed him. “How can he put me in a television show? He is lying. After the shoot of my movie Lender got over in March, I went to a resort in Sri Lanka with friends, where I met him,” she said. “He told me that he would marry me but now he doesn’t even recognise me.”
Rauf had officiated in two Tests between Sri Lanka and England in Colombo and Galle between March 26 and April 7. The former first-class cricketer and popular umpire has been on the elite panel for eight years. He said he was prepared to face an inquiry over Kapoor’s allegation.
“Out of my 10,000 followers on Facebook, 99 per cent are from India,” he said. “If there is any truth in what this girl is saying, and in case she has some concrete evidence, I am ready to come down to India to be questioned.”
