.jpg "Police and Armed Forces personnel conduct checks on a fishing boat in Kampung Pulau Betong in Balik Pulau April 8, 2020. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Sayuti Zainudin")
KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Police have arrested 37 individuals for violating the recovery movement control order (RMCO) as of noon today, with 32 of them compounded and five remanded for various offences.
Among offences cited were visiting a pub or nightclub, as well as failure to observe social distancing, the National Security Council said in a statement today.
“PDRM arrested 37 individuals on grounds that they violated the RMCO. From the total five had been remanded while the remaining 32 were compounded,” the statement read.
“The offences include visiting a nightclub or pub (one individual), holding a crowded activity that was hard for social distancing (16 individuals), and violating (health) SOPs (20 individuals).”
The authorities have conducted up to 62,000 inspections on thousands of commercial spaces, retail outlets, banks and public offices, as of July 12, according to the NSC.
The daily inspections are meant to ensure public compliance of the RMCO, said Senior Minister in charge of security Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who said the rate has been satisfactory.
The number of violations and arrests has been relatively low since Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the RMCO in June.
Putrajaya has ramped up border security as it began allowing more economic and social activities since May, with daily roadblocks erected around key routes leading into the country.
The authorities have detained nearly 1,500 individuals for alleged attempts to enter the country without proper travel documents and up to 110 human smugglers from May 1 to July 12, the NSC said.
This included the confiscation of 50 vessels said to have been used to smuggle migrants.
