JOHOR BARU: A Singaporean woman claimed she was detained for seven days after she got into an argument with an immigration officer at the Customs, Immigrations, and Quarantine Complex at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, here early last month.
According to a report published by a Singapore-based portal, the 36-year-old woman was on her way to Johor Baru when the incident occurred on Aug 7.
In the report, the woman, identified as Atalia Chua, claimed the episode began when her biometric scan failed twice.
This led her to approach an immigration officer at one of the counters at the complex. Chua, however, was informed by the officer that the counter was closed.
Chua, in the report, claimed that the officer became upset, and the argument escalated after she questioned how another person had been able to use the same counter.
The officer, she said, alleged became aggressive after Chua recorded the incident.
The portal claimed that after Chua began filming the officer who shouted at her, confiscated her passport and took her into custody.
She claimed that she was pressured to delete the video and sign forms written in Malay, which she refused to do. She was then detained for six nights.
The report claimed Chua was only released after her brother called Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry to intervene.
Johor Baru (South) police chief Assistant Raub Selamat confirmed that a police report was lodged by an immigration office over the incident at about noon on Aug 7.
Raub, however, declined to elaborate on the report or the incident.
State Immigration Department director Datuk Mohd Rusdi Mohd Darus, when contacted, said: "For the time being, I cannot provide information related to this matter and issue."
State Works, Transportation, Infrastructure, and Communication Committee Chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said he needed some time to check the facts of the incident.