JOHOR BAHRU, April 23 — After six hours of hiding in an oil palm plantation here, 57 ‘mat rempit’ finally surrender themselves to the police for fear of missing out on the Aidilfitri celebration.
Kulai district police chief Supt Tok Beng Yeow said the group of men, aged 17 to 42, had been hiding in the oil palm plantation at Kilometre 7, Jalan Kulai-Kota Tinggi, since 3 am on Saturday.
However, two officers and 13 personnel from the Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Division involved in a special operation in conjunction with Op Selamat 20 surrounded the area, thus preventing the men from escaping.
“During the operation, most of these mat rempit hid in the oil palm plantation and tried to escape via rat routes but were surrounded by the police.
“Finally, at 9 am, one by one started to surrender as they could not stand the hot condition in the plantation, and some said they were hungry and missed the Aidilfitri delicacies,” he said in a statement today.
Tok said 140 summonses were issued for various offences, including no driving licence and insurance, expired licence, non-standard plate numbers, modified exhaust, and not wearing a helmet.
He added that 39 motorcycles were confiscated under Section 64 of the Road Transport Act 1987.
