Ops Warta – 1,125 offenders surrender, 403 arrested

As of 3 pm yesterday (May 20), 403 motorists with outstanding summonses have been arrested under Ops Warta, while 1,125 have presented themselves at police stations, Bernama reports.

According to federal police assistant chief of the Inspector-General of Police Secretariat (Corporate Communications) ACP Datin Asmawati Ahmad, 284 people have been released on bail, while 119 have been charged in court.

The national news agency reports that in Ipoh, a civil servant and a foreigner were among the first five traffic offenders with warrants of arrest nabbed on May 19, the first day of the operation. Out of the five, three of them were picked out at a road block in Kampar; the other two in Ipoh.

Perak traffic police staff officer DSP Mahiri Hussain said the civil servant was fined RM1,200 for two traffic offences, while the foreigner was fined RM1,500 for three offences.

As of yesterday, 58 offenders were arrested in George Town. Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said the operation ran smoothly, with all offenders giving cooperation to the cops.

Meanwhile, in Alor Setar, a 21-year-old man was nabbed after he persuaded his friend, who was driving a Proton Saga FLX, to ram into the police road block in an attempt to escape arrest.

Their attempt failed, and both were nabbed on Jalan Lencong Barat of the Sultanah Bahiyah Expressway. According to Kota Setar traffic police enforcer Inspector Othman Abdullah, the man had 24 unsettled summonses issued for various offences including illegal modifications to vehicle and number plate, since 2009.

His friend, although without any warrant of arrest, was issued with two summonses for using a mobile phone while driving and for not stopping at a road block, Othman said, adding that as of 5 pm yesterday, 30 offenders surrendered and paid their summonses at the Kota Setar police headquarters.

Othman also urged employers to cooperate fully with the police during workplace visits, saying that as of yesterday evening, the district traffic police have checked 13 premises, but only made two arrests as most of the employers were uncooperative, reports the New Straits Times.

“The employers gave the excuse that the people we were looking for are no longer working with them, hence we cannot proceed to make an arrest. It is very disappointing if the employers are trying to protect those traffic offenders,” he told the English-language daily, adding that the police will continue to hunt the offenders down by checking National Registration Department and Employees’ Provident Fund data.

“As of today (May 20), we managed to arrest four people through road blocks. Among those arrested include a 76-year-old who was found to have been riding a motorcycle without a licence and with two arrest warrants, and a 20-year-old ex-oil smuggler with 24 outstanding summonses and 20 arrest warrants of various offences since 2012,” Othman told the NST.

He added that there were 863 outstanding summonses in Kota Setar district alone this year and over a thousand for offences committed within the last 10 years from last year.

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