JOHOR BARU: Johor Police are keen to contact a woman who alleged that policemen extorted RM500 from a Singapore-registered vehicle driver after directing them to the heavy vehicle lanes at the Customs Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar here on Sunday (March 10).
The woman (a Malaysian) uploaded two dashcam recordings of the alleged incident on Facebook under the account Irene Teo.
The footage depicted a traffic policeman redirecting a motorist to the heavy vehicle immigration clearance lane after removing the barrier barricading the route.
Later, the same motorist was seen being questioned by two other traffic policemen at the heavy vehicle immigration booth before they were escorted out by two traffic policemen on motorcycles.
There were no recordings of the alleged extortion.
Johor Police Chief Commissioner M. Kumar said police are aware of the footage which was uploaded and shared on social media platforms.
"Attempts have been made to contact Teo, but she is yet to respond. We have also recorded statements from the policemen manning traffic during the alleged incident," he said.
"If the allegations are true, it will be investigated thoroughly without compromise. We do not tolerate any form of misuse of power and acts of alleged bribery," he added.
Teo, in her posting, claimed that the policemen attempted to extort SG$600, but after negotiating the 'fee', she claimed that she paid RM500 instead, before they were escorted back towards the car lane in CIQ.
She also shared some tips with Singaporean motorists on how to "handle" similar incidents in the future.
She claimed that the incident occurred at 8 pm on Sunday while she, her Singaporean boyfriend, and his mother seated at the back, were heading back to the republic in his Singapore-registered car.
She claimed that while waiting in the car lane queue along the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) Expressway, a traffic policeman removed the barriers and instructed them towards the heavy vehicles' lane.
"We followed the policeman's instructions, while another Singapore-registered car trailed us. It led us to a deserted side road near CIQ, where there were only two cars.
She claimed that after inspecting her boyfriend's driving license and their passports, the officers said he would lead them back to the car lane towards CIQ.
However, they were required to pay a SG$600 fine for using the unauthorised route.
She alleged that the policeman told her if the fine was not paid on the spot, they would be required to head to the station where a report would be lodged.
They would be slapped with a summons, and their details recorded, which the policeman claimed would be a hassle, time-consuming, and their details would be on record for violating traffic regulations.
"Although we agreed to follow him to the station, he ignored us and held my boyfriend's passport," she said.
After some negotiations, they paid RM500 and were escorted by the traffic policemen on their motorcycles to the car lane.
She also warned Singaporeans of the alleged tactics and asked them to take extra precautionary measures in the future.