Child night riders are at it again, lament police

Even after witnessing the deaths of eight of their friends, several daredevil child cyclists are back in the act, at the exact same location where their fellow racers died.

This was revealed by Johor Baru Selangor disctrict police chief Sulaiman Salleh after arresting a group of cyclists early this morning.

"All of them were arrested while we were on patrol around the area at about 3am.

"They were found to be moving in groups of about 30 to 40 people and they were holding races at the area," said Sulaiman, according to Bernama.

He said that some of detainees had witnessed the tragic accident on Feb 18, at Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, beside the Mahmoodiah cemetery.

Warning to parents

There were 22 arrests, age 14 to 17. There were two females among those arrested. Eight of the detainees were said to be spectators.

"Investigations revealed that 15 detainees were still schooling while the others were not.

"They communicated through social media and were from Desa Cemerlang, Seri Alam, Kempas, Skudai, Johor Bahru Utara, Kangkar Pulai, Iskandar Puteri and Taman Daya Johor Baru," he said.

A visibly irate Sulaiman also warned parents that they could be charged under the Childs Act 2001 for leaving a child without reasonable supervision if their children were involved in illegal racing.

"If found guilty, they can be fined up to RM5,000 or face a prison sentence of not more than two years," he said.

He also revealed that the police had conducted 28 operations against illegal bicycle racing last year and that there were 27 arrests.

The "basikal lajak" craze received public attention after the Feb 28 accident. These races involve mostly children at lonely streets late at night.

Following this, Sam Ke Ting, 22, claimed trial to dangerous driving, in relations to the accident.- Mkini