JOHOR BAHRU, March 16 — A group of teenagers on motorcycles are being lauded online after a viral video showed them foiling an attempted cable theft in Permas Jaya here early Friday morning.

The one-minute video shows the teens confronting a man as he allegedly tried to load a bundle of unearthed telecommunication cables into a four-wheel-drive vehicle at around 2.20am.

Johor Bahru South district police chief ACP Raub Selamat confirmed that police are investigating the incident, which came to their attention after the video began circulating online on Saturday.

He said an official report was first lodged at 5.36am on Friday by a 51-year-old telecommunications company technician.

“The complainant was patrolling the area to prevent cable theft and discovered the targeted 50-metre underground cable belonging to his company,” Raub said in a statement.

He confirmed the case is being investigated under Section 431A of the Penal Code for mischief by damaging communication cables, which carries a penalty of up to two years in jail, a fine, or both upon conviction.

Police have urged anyone who witnessed the incident or has information to contact the Johor Bahru South district police headquarters or its hotline at 07-2182323.

There has been a significant rise in infrastructure theft in Malaysia, reportedly driven by soaring global copper prices.

Incidents in the rail sector alone rose by 68 per cent in 2025, with 40 cases recorded in the first two months of this year.