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Wednesday, 24 June 2009

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Eighteen Muslims nabbed at gaming outlets

A Muslim punter being detained by JAIS officers. On the extreme right (in striped shirt) is Ahmad Tarnuzi.

EIGHTEEN men, 12 of whom were Malaysians found themselves on the wrong side of the law while purchasing their favourite numbers at gaming outlets in SS15 and USJ1 in Subang Jaya yesterday.
Absorbed by the numbers they were going to put their bets on, the men did not realize when enforcement officers from the Selangor Religious Department and the Subang Jaya Municipal Council walked in.
All three outlets at each location were cordoned off, with all punters detained in the shop while officers identified the Muslims and non-Muslims. Several skirmishes and attempts to escape the officers took place during the whole one-hour operations.
The non-Muslims were let off while the Muslims detained – 12 Malaysians and six Indonesians were escorted to the enforcement vehicles. The oldest person detained was a 66 year old man.
The men, according to JAIS head of Syariah Criminal Investigations Unit for Selangor Ahmad Tarnuzi, will be charged under Section 17(1) Selangor Syariah Criminal Enactment No 9/1995.
They face a fine of not more than RM3,000 or 2 years jail or both if found guilty.
Ahmad said the offenders would also be required to go for counseling.
MPSJ president Dato’ Adnan Md Ikshan who was present said the council would now impose a new condition on the operators when they renewed their premise license.
“When they apply to renew their premise license, we will add another condition which clearly states that the onus will be on the operators to ensure no Muslims were entertained at the counter.”
“If they fail to comply and cooperate, we will take the necessary action,” he said, adding that this was to deter Muslims from frequenting such places.
Adnan said Muslims and those under the legal age of 21 were not allowed into gaming outlets.
“We will constantly monitor these outlets to make sure Muslims stay away,” he said.