KEPALA BATAS: Five men, including the operator of a gym, were compounded for non-adherence to the standard operating procedures (SOP) during the lockdown period yesterday.
Seberang Prai Utara police chief Assistant Commissioner Noorzainy Mohd Noor said the 58-year-old gym owner was slapped with a RM10,000 compound while his four customers, RM2,000 each.
He said the gym, located at Jalan Bagan Luar, Butterworth near here, was found to be operating during checks by the task force team from the Butterworth police station about 5.40pm yesterday.
Malaysia is currently placed under a total lockdown and during this period, gyms are not allowed to operate.
"During checks at the gym, we found it to be operating and there were five men inside. One of them is the owner while the rest are customers.
"All of them, aged between 36 and 52, were slapped with compound for flouting the SOPs," he said today.
Noorzainy said the gym operator, who has been operating for two years, said he had opened for business on the request of his customers.
"When questioned, he admitted to opening his business according to customers' requests during the lockdown period.
"Checks also showed there was a student there, who was not issued with any compound. We let the student off with a warning," he added.