A total of eight Muslims were arrested by the Perak Islamic religious department (JAIPk) over allegations of not fasting during Ramadan and gambling.
JAIPk enforcement chief Asyraf Ismail told Harian Metro that the raid codenamed ‘Ops Ponteng’ was carried out at a snooker centre in Jalan Raja Ekram, Taman Jubilee, Ipoh, following a week of intelligence gathering.
Arrested for multiple offences
Asyraf said five out of the eight people were detained Section 24 of the Perak Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1992 for disrespecting Ramadan by skipping fast.
As for the rest, they were detained for gambling, abetting gambling, and abetting the act of disrespecting Ramadan.
Non-Muslim workers at the snooker centre will also be probed under Section 61 of the same legislature for abetment.
“Our intelligence found that the premises had become a place for people who were not fasting. Many were also found to be eating, drinking and smoking.
“We were also informed that the snooker centre provided free fried noodles to customers too,” he said.
Asyraf added that one of the detainees, who was a delivery rider, claimed that he was fasting and stopped by the snooker centre to use the toilet.
However, his claim quickly fell apart after officers showed him evidence of him smoking within the premises.
All eight men were taken to JAIPk’s Syariah Law Enforcement Division Office for further investigation.
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