Lahore:
The financial feud between Mohammad Asif and his ex-girlfriend Veena Malik is getting nastier with the actress filing a police complaint against the Pakistani pacer for allegedly sending threatening messages.
"I have filed a complaint that Asif is sending me threatening messages. He has threatened to harm me if I don't stop pursuing my demand that he return the loan he has taken from me," Veena said.
The feud over money matters between the two celebrities has snowballed into a major controversy with the Pakistan Cricket Board cautioning Asif to focus on his preparations for the Twenty20 World Cup.
Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik also called up Veena after she made an appeal to the government to look into her case.
"Rehman Malik has asked me to send him all relevant documents of the case and has promised me security and justice," Veena said.
The actress had an affair with Asif until he recently got married to a girl of his family's choice.
Since then Veena has demanded that he return her around Rs 14 million which she claims she gave him when he was banned from playing cricket.
Asif has denied taking this amount and said he had returned the Rs 3.4 million he owed Veena.
The actress has filed a petition in the Lahore high court pleading for a case to be registered against Asif for fraud and cheating while Asif has filed a counter claim in the against Veena.
"The case we are pushing for to be registered against Asif carries a punishment of three years imprisonment and non-bailable arrest warrants," Khawaja Shareef, the lawyer for Veena said.
The feud has got the PCB worried as the team is due to leave for the West Indies on their World Cup campaign on April 24.
"So far we have treated this as a personal issue of Asif as he has not missed any session of the training camp but obviously we are concerned this issue might not affect his focus," Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed said.
"We have told Asif to focus on his cricket and get over this issue quickly. The World Cup is a very event for us. And we are keeping a close watch on things," he added.