PESHAWAR, 15 July 2006 — A financial dispute has landed Pakistan’s legendary squash star Jansher Khan in jail at least for two weeks, a court ruled yesterday.
A lower court in Peshawar remanded Khan into police custody for 14 days after a local family complained that he had illegally occupied their house.
Rukhsana Habib told the court her husband had borrowed one million rupees (about $16,600) from Jansher, which the family was unable to repay in time. “We told him of our problem but he got us thrown out of our home and is demanding four times the amount we had got from him,” Rukhsana said.
She said the family already paid Jansher about 1.7 million rupees but he is asking for four million as principal and compound interest.
Rukhsana accused Jansher of trying to grab her property by force. Rukhsana further alleged that Jansher’s henchmen, who were armed, occupied her house after beating her.
The Peshawar court, rejecting Jansher’s bail application, ordered the arrest of the former world squash champion. Jansher ‘s lawyers told reporters they would seek bail.
Peshawar media cited family sources as saying that allegations of usury and trespassing have brought disgrace to the holder of 99 major international titles, including a record eight World Open and six British Open victories.
The police spared Jansher from handcuffs for his national hero status, while his brother-in-law appeared in the court handcuffed.
