62 Myanmar men detained for taking part in a traditional water festival

Police arrested 62 Myanmar men suspected of being involved in a water festival in the compound of a factory workers’ hostel in Sepang, Selangor.

Sepang District Police chief ACP Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof said they were all arrested in a raid about 2pm yesterday following an investigation and with the cooperation of the factory’s management.

According to him, two of the suspects admitted to recording the event using their mobile phones and disseminating it on Facebook.

“Some admitted to attending the event and more arrests are being carried out to track the other suspects involved. Two mobile phones used by the suspects have also been seized,” Wan Kamarul said in a statement.

The case is being investigated under Section 269 of the Penal Code, Section 505(c) of the Penal Code, Section 22 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

On Sunday, a 30-minute video went viral on social media showing a group of foreign workers dancing and singing to celebrate the water festival, better known as Songkran, and according to information on the video, they were foreign workers of a glove factory.

Violating the movement control order

Their action received backlash from the public for violating the movement control order (MCO) at a time when the country was making efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.

In Johor, police detained 34 people who attended wild parties at two apartment blocks in the district last Saturday, during the MCO period.

Johor police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the arrests involved 23 local men and 11 women, aged between 17 and 31, in raids at five apartment units at two buildings in the city and in Masai respectively.

He said three of the raids were conducted on April 11, from 10.30pm, followed by two more raids at midnight (April 12).

”In the raids, eight were held for possessing ketamine and THC drugs weighing 6.68 grams, 20 ecstasy pills and three Erimin 5 pills.

“Urine tests also found 28 of them positive for ketamine and THC drugs,” Ayob Khan said in a statement released yesterday.

He said investigations also found that three of the men arrested had previous drug-related offences. Two of those held were civil servants.

"Initial investigations revealed that all the suspects were not occupants of the units and failed to provide a reasonable excuse to gather," Ayob Khan said.

Therefore, all were remanded from April 12 to 16.

The case is being investigated under Section 39A (1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (for drugs possession), Section 15 (1) (A) of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952 (for drug-positive suspects) and Rule 11 of the Prevention and Control Act Infectious Diseases 2020 for violating the MCO directive.

- Bernama