JOHOR BARU, Nov 8 — Four men, three locals and a Bangladeshi, were charged in the Magistrate’s Court here today with theft, kidnapping, extortion and causing hurt to two Bangladeshi construction workers last month.
The three local men B. Kamalaganthan, 31, M. L. Subramaniam, 30 and S. Sakhthi Dasan, 26, pleaded not guilty to the charges read out before Magistrate Siti Hajar Ali while no plea was recorded from the Bangladeshi man, Md Ismail, 27.
For the first charge, Md Ismail and Kamalaganthan, were alleged to have stolen RM12,000 belonging to one Mohd Khalil at a workers’ dormitory in Forest City, Tanjung Kupang, near here, at about 2 am, on Oct 24.
They were charged for theft under Section 380 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum jail term of up to 10 years and liable to a fine, upon conviction.
Md Ismail and Kamalaganthan along with Subramaniam and Sakhthi Dasan were also charged with kidnapping and confining Mohd Khalil and Mohd Abdullah from the workers’ dormitory in Forest City at an abandoned TNB substation at Taman Scientex, Pasir Gudang, for the purpose of extorting money from them, on the same day.
They were charged under Section 347 of the Penal Code for wrongful confinement for the purpose of extortion, read together with Section 34 of the same code which carries a maximum jail term of three years and a fine, upon conviction.
The four accused were also charged with voluntarily causing hurt to the victims at the substation by using a piece of iron on the same date.
For this they were charged under Section 324 of the Penal Code, read with Section 34 of the same code which provides a jail term of up to 10 years or a fine or whipping or any two of the punishments, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Farah Nabihah Muhamad Dan prosecuted.
All the accused who were unrepresented, were allowed bail of RM3,000 with one surety each and the court fixed Nov 26 for remention and the appointment of an interpreter for the Bangladeshi man. — Bernama
