KOTA BARU: A contractor was detained at a petrol station in Tawang near Bachok after purchasing diesel in multiple containers without a permit last night.
The 29-year-old contractor was arrested at 9pm by a team of officers and members of the state Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry who were conducting surveillance at the station.
Department director Azman Ismail said the man made the purchase several hours after the announcement of the implementation of unsubsidised diesel prices at RM3.35 per litre, which began today.
"Our surveillance found that the contractor arrived at the petrol station in a Toyota Hilux four-wheel drive.
"The man brought 15 blue containers, and at the time of the arrest, six containers had already been filled with diesel, each containing 25 litres of diesel. The purchase was made using a debit card.
"As a result, we detained the contractor for purchasing diesel in containers without a valid permit or authorisation letter," he said.
He said this while conducting surveillance at Petronas and Petron petrol stations in Pasir Pekan here at midnight last night.
He explained that the investigation found that the purpose of the diesel purchase was for agricultural activities and the case is being investigated under the Control of Supplies Act 1961
Azman added that his department also seized documents from the petrol station for imposing conditional diesel purchases, such as setting a maximum purchase of RM100 for each vehicle.
He said the station operator gave "insufficient diesel supply" as an excuse for this.
"Therefore, we seized the station's documents for further action," he said.