A man has alleged that two police officers tried to extort money from him while he was going through the Johor Bahru (JB) checkpoint.
According to him, the two men had detained him and demanded RM2,000 (S$570) or they would put him in a lockup.
Source: Wikipedia
The duo have reportedly been arrested.
The incident was shared during a press conference aired on The Star’s Facebook page last Friday (5 April).
The 29-year-old man named only as Lim told of his experience while sitting next to Mr Heng Zhi Li, a Johor politician.
Lim (left) at the press conference on 5 April. Source: The Star on Facebook
He said the incident occurred on 2 April, while he was returning to JB at about 10pm after working in Singapore.
After Lim cleared immigration at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex, he was approached by two men, he said.
Claiming to be police officers, they took his phone and passport and told him to follow them into a room “beside the moneychanger”.
The room had a police emblem on the outside, he added, and it was small, like an interrogation room.
Source: The Star on Facebook
Once Lim was alone with the two men, they allegedly accused him of unspecified offences.
They also allegedly said they would take him to the lockup that night. He would also be brought to court the next day, so he wouldn’t be able to go to work in Singapore.
Worried that he would lose his job, he asked them what offence he committed but they refused to tell him, he said.
They then allegedly asked him to show them the details of both his bank accounts and tell them how long he has been working in Singapore.
When he complied, they reortedly asked him why his bank balance was so low despite having worked for 10 years in Singapore.
Eventually, they allegedly told him he would be released if he gave them RM2,000 (S$570).
Lim said he told them he didn’t have so much cash on him, so one of the men took him via motorbike to an ATM located at a nearby petrol station.
However, he was unsuccessful in withdrawing money due to technical issues, so the man took him to another ATM at another petrol station.
There, he couldn’t withdraw cash again and was taken to a bank, where he could withdraw only RM1,000 (S$284) due to the withdrawal limit.
Asked why he didn’t run away, Lim said the man held on to his passport and phone.
Source: The Star on Facebook
When he returned to the man, he was asked why he withdrew only RM1,000.
At this point, Lim said he pretended to have an asthma attack and lay down on the road.
However, a member of the public who tried to help was waved away by the police officer, he added.
They got onto the motorbike again, but Lim asked to get off as he was feeling uncomfortable. So the officer took him to a bus stop to rest.
As he was lying on the ground, a couple came over to help.
The couple resisted attempts by the officer to wave them away, prompting the officer to drop his passport and phone and leave the scene.
He didn’t manage to get the money, which was in a small bag that Lim was carrying.
Eventually, the couple helped call a Grab ride for Lim.
Following the revelations, Johor police chief M. Kumar released a statement saying that Lim had made a police report about the incident on Friday (5 April) morning, reported The Star.
Two police officers, aged 32 and 33, were arrested at about 1.50pm on the same day.
They will be remanded for three days, suspected of extorting money from a person going through immigration clearance.
The Johor police are committed to fighting integrity problems and criminal misconduct among officers so public confidence in the force can increase, the police chief added.
“Strict action without compromise” will be taken against any officer or personnel found to have committed a crime, he assured.
Also read: Woman from S’pore claims JB checkpoint officers led them to lorry lane & demanded RM600 ‘fine’
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Featured image adapted from The Star on Facebook and Wikipedia.
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