BUTTERWORTH: Police have detected efforts by former school students to recruit 'juniors' to join their extortion activities.
Seberang Prai Utara district police chief Assistant Commissioner Noorzainy Mohd Noor said the Mak Mandin and Butterworth liaison officers deployed to monitor the standard operating procedures (SOP) compliance at schools managed to identify the group.
The syndicate was believed to be recruiting students to get them to extort money from others to cover their daily expenses.
"We believe the matter started early this year but came to a halt after schools were closed due to the Movement Control Order (MCO)," he said when met at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Kampung Kastam here today.
Investigations found that the extortion did not happen within the school compound, but was done elsewhere outside the school.
"They were also threatening to hurt the students if they refused to join them.
"No reports were lodged so far since this is an isolated case but we are tracking the suspects involved so we can eradicate this completely," he added.
The liaison officers were told to monitor schools continuously and give lectures to students to avoid getting involved in such activities.
Meanwhile, Noorzainy said no students were booked for involvement in criminal activities since the MCO was enforced on March 18.
"In the same period last year, 25 cases involving school students were recorded for motorcycle theft, robbery, gambling and obstruction of duties of civil servants," said.
While monitoring the SOP compliance today, he expressed satisfaction over the level of commitment shown by 92 schools here.
"Our compliance rate is at 100 per cent and we hope to maintain it until a vaccine is found." said Noorzainy.
