AFTER six hours of hiding in an oil palm plantation in Johor Baru, 57 “mat rempit” finally surrendered themselves to the police for fear of missing out on the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration.

Kulai district police chief Tok Beng Yeow said the group of men, aged 17 to 42, had been hiding in the plantation at Kilometre 7, Jalan Kulai-Kota Tinggi, since 3am yesterday.

However, two officers and 13 men from the Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Division involved in a special operation in conjunction with Op Selamat 20 surrounded the area, thus preventing the men from escaping.

“During the operation, most of these mat rempit hid in the oil palm plantation and tried to escape via rat routes but were surrounded by the police,” he said in a statement today.

“Finally, at 9am, one by one started to surrender as they could not stand the hot condition in the plantation, and some said they were hungry and missed the Aidilfitri delicacies.”

Tok said 140 summonses were issued for various offences, including no driving licence and insurance, expired licence, non-standard plate numbers, modified exhaust and not wearing a helmet.

He said 39 motorcycles were confiscated under section 64 of the Road Transport Act 1987. – Bernama, April 23, 2023.