SHAH ALAM: A total of 106 individuals were arrested in the nationwide ‘Ops Warta’ which started today.
Federal traffic police chief Datuk Mohd Fuad Abd Latiff said this will be an ongoing operation, to ensure that any outstanding warrants were settled before the year ends.
Fuad said the operation was conducted simultaneously at all of the states.
“It is an all-out operation where our team of traffic police officers conduct roadblocks and door-to-door visit. Those who fail to settle their summonses will be brought to court to be charged. So far, we have arrested 12 delinquent drivers for various offences.
“Among the common offences are speeding offences, parking on the yellow line, beating the red light signals, car modification, double parking and many more,” he said, adding that more than 50 officers were involved in the operation.
He said during the operation, Penang had the most number of traffic offenders with 36 arrests, followed by 40 arrests in Selangor and in Malacca with 24 arrests.
“As of the operation, we also have individuals who have come forth to settle their summonses. The number of turned ups is overwhelming. We are glad that many have responded and showed up, after we made the announcement two weeks ago.
“However, there have been some traffic offenders with outstanding summonses for several years have gone into ‘hiding’. When our traffic police officers checks on them, they are either not in their office or have quit their jobs.
"We will continue to track these offenders," he told reporters at a press conference held at Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE) before the Bukit Subang Toll Plaza.
According to police record, he said, about RM1.59 million of arrest warrants were unsettled however during the operation about RM38,000 had been collected.
For Shah Alam, he said, a total of 4,256 arrest warrants have been issued and about seven individuals with 17 summonses had been arrested.
He urged the public to start settling their traffic summonses if they do not wish to be brought to the court.
He advised the public to check their outstanding warrants and make the payment at their respective police stations.
A 42-year old lorry driver, K. Param, who was arrested during the roadblock at GCE, said he was not aware about the operation.
He said the lorry that he was driving belonged to the company and thought that his employer had already settled the summonses.
He said the warrant was issued because the driving permit had already expired.
Meanwhile in Terengganu, seven motorists have been tracked down in the Marang district for traffic offences and possessed warrants.
District police chief Deputy Superintendent Risikan Satiman said policemen from the Marang police station were deployed to locate the motorists at their workplace.
"We received instructions to track down offenders from Marang. But we have yet to mount roadblocks under 'Ops Warta'," he said when contacted today.
In Kedah, nine people, including a 76-year-old man were arrested by the district traffic police for various traffic offences under the 'Ops Warta'.
Kota Setar traffic prosecuting officer Sukma Johar said of the total nine people, five of them have surrendered themselves at the police station, two were arrested during a roadblock, one arrested at a premises and another one was caught after committing another traffic offence.
"Among those arrested, one of them had been issued with eight arrest warrants, while the rest were issued with only one or two arrest warrants.
"The 76-year-old for instance, was arrested for running the red light. Further checks by our officers revealed that he has also been riding a motorcycle without licence and issued two arrest warrants," he said.
Sukma was speaking to the media at the Kota Setar District Traffic Police branch after finishing a five-hour roadblock which started at 10am today.
Reports by C. Premananthini, Zarina Abdullah and Masriwanie Muhamading