Lahore, Aug 3 (PTI) Prominent Pakistani snooker player Ahsan Ramzan was arrested on Thursday for allegedly keeping his sports club open beyond the permitted hours and causing disturbance to the neighbourhood, police said.
According to the officials, the government allows sports clubs and businesses to remain open till 10 pm. Anyone doing so beyond the permitted hours can be arrested for infringing the rules.
Police said that the snooker club of Ramzan was open till 2 am on Thursday (four hours beyond the stipulated time) in the Township area of Lahore. After receiving the complaint, police raided the club and arrested him.
“Prominent Pakistani Ahsan Ramzan snooker player was arrested Thursday for keeping his snooker club open despite the permitted hours. There were complaints that there was disturbance caused due to it to the neighbours,” said a senior police official.
In a video statement, Ramzan said that he was with other players training for upcoming events at a snooker academy when police from the Green Town Police Station raided the snooker club for keeping it open till late at night.
He was later released when his identity was made known to the Station House Officer.
While in custody, Ramzan was allegedly manhandled and was verbally abused.
In 2021, Ramzan, 17, set a new record for amateur snooker and became the 2nd youngest player after Chinese player Yan Bingtao to win the title at the World Amateur Snooker Champion 2021.
Taking cognizance of the matter, Punjab caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi ordered an investigation into the matter.
He said strict action will be taken against those policemen who misbehaved with Ramzan.
Ramzan, who recently won U-21 Asian Snooker Championship 2023 uploaded a video message on social media after his release, saying he had told the policemen that he was the world champion but in return, they hurled abuses at him.
“If you are world champion then what it has to do with us… you have done it for yourself,” Ramzan said, citing one of the policemen’s responses.
Source: PTI News