PETALING JAYA, May 12 — Police arrested a man who chained and padlocked his bag to the railing of a platform at the Pasar Seni Light Rapid Transit (LRT) on Tuesday only to release him minutes later after realising he was just guilty of bad judgment.

Apparently, the man had done so to go to the toilet without realising his action would result in a police team and the bomb disposal squad being summoned.

The bag was spotted at 11.15am by a station staff who alerted the company’s Operational Control Centre (OCC) in Subang which informed police.

The squad arrived minutes later and was inspecting the bag when the owner showed up and was arrested.

Dang Wangi police chief ACP Zainol Samah said police took him in for questioning but released him shortly after realising he did not have any ulterior motive.

“The case has been closed and no further action will be taken against him. We released him after background checks cleared him,” he said.

The incident led to the closure of the station for nearly 20 minutes.

Commuters who leave bags unattended at railway stations can be charged under Section 59 of the Railways Act 1991.

Prasarana spokesman Lim Jin Aun said the incident caused the temporary closure of the LRT services and anxiety among commuters.

He reminded commuters not to leave bags and other belongings unattended at LRT and monorail stations.

“Unattended bags create undue alarm among commuters and authorities,” he said.

Anti-crime NGOs urged the public to be more civic-minded instead of leaving personal belongings in public for the sake of convenience or behaving indifferently.

Malaysians Against Rape, Assault & Snatch Theft founder Dave Avran said action should be taken in the matter as the act of leaving the bag unattended had led to a waste of resources by police and the Fire and Rescue Department.

“A bag lying unattended is a legitimate cause for concern which the authorities cannot ignore, regardless of whether it turns out to be real or not,” he said.

Community Policing Malaysia founder president Kuan Chee Heng was more forgiving, saying action should only be taken if the owner of the bag was ill-intentioned.

“Although there are no laws that can be used against someone who has no ulterior motive, police can take action if the individual deliberately intended to cause alarm,” he said.

Kuan said the incident should be a lesson for travellers not to leave their bags unattended in public places.

“With society now jittery because of terrorist attacks, I hope this also serves as a reminder to the public to alert the authorities if they find anything suspicious,” he said.

Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said unintentional scares were different from bomb hoaxes.

“If anything, the public should  not be negligent since this can result in public inconvenience and disruptions as well as the creation of an atmosphere of fear,” he said.

Lee said in view of security issues facing the country, especially from Islamic State and other militants, the authorities cannot afford to take risks.

He said the authorities should continue to remind the public about what they should not do in public places.

“If these reminders fall on deaf ears, they will have no choice but to come down hard on those responsible. New laws can be introduced to penalise such actions,” he said.

On March 24,  Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamedon said the ministry was concerned over the recurrence of incidents where people left bags unattended in public places.

He said police would detain those leaving bags behind or behaving suspiciously.