Driver bites Immigration officer in bid to escape

The man refused to hand over the passports of three Thai nationals in the car and became violent.

ALOR SETAR: An Immigration officer was bitten by a driver who was trying to escape inspection at the Kota Putera Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security Complex in Durian Burung today.

According to Kedah Immigration director Mohamad Yusri Hashim the incident occurred at 1.30pm when a car driven by a local man passed through inspection at the ICQS with a Thai man and two Thai women inside the vehicle.

The incident began when the driver refused to hand over the passports of the three Thai nationals to the Immigration officer, claiming they had already been stamped.

Suspicious of the driver’s claim, the Immigration officer then instructed the passports of the Thai nationals to be handed over but the man ignored and tried to drive on towards Thailand, but was stopped.

“The driver refused to cooperate and reacted aggressively, and an argument and struggle ensued, resulting in the Immigration officer being bitten and injured,” he said in a statement today.

Mohamad Yusri said Immigration officers then detained the local man and the three Thai nationals who had entered Malaysia illegally through the rat trails in Sungai Golok, Kelantan.

He said the local man was detained and investigated for sheltering a foreigner, while the Thai nationals for not having valid travel documents and overstaying.

He added that the Immigration Department also confiscated the vehicle which was registered in Seri Kembangan.

All four were detained at the Immigration lock-up situated at the ICQS.

They will be handed over to the Belantik Immigration Detention Depot in Sik after investigations.

– BERNAMA