JOHOR BARU: Two teenagers forked out RM1,800 between them to bribe policemen from taking action against them.

The officers from the Seri Alam patrol unit refused and nabbed the 19-year-old boys for trying to bribe them.

Following this incident on Nov 21, Kpl Md Nizam Hamid, 45, and L/Kpl Mohd Fauzan Tariman, 30, each received a commendation in the form of a certificate of appreciation from Johor police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff at the monthly assembly at the state police headquarters here yesterday.

Recounting the bribery attempt, Kpl Md Nizam said he and L/Kpl Mohd Fauzan were patrolling along Jalan Tebrau at around 6.55pm when they spotted the youths behaving suspiciously in a Honda Civic.

“We asked them to pull over for a routine inspection,” he said, adding their checks found the car had a fake road tax sticker and was not registered with the Road Transport Department (JPJ).

“One of the suspects came out of the car with the money and asked us to equally divide it,” he said, adding that he and L/Kpl Mohd Fauzan advised the youngster not to bribe them.

Checking on the JPJ online data later, the policemen found the Federal Territory registration number of the car actually belonged to another Honda Civic.

The case has since been brought to the attention of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for investigation and action.

In a related development, Comm Mohd Mokhtar said police would go all out in the Johor Baru district to wipe out drug addicts and snatch thieves, who are believed to have contributed to 70% of street crimes here.

He added that the police would also go after motorcyclists who commit crime.

“Based on previous cases, there are many motorcyclists in Johor with number plates that had either been tampered with or who rode on stolen motorcycles,” he said.

-thestar