SIBU: Nine persons including three Vietnamese women were arrested after they were found entertaining clients inside a room in a factory at Jalan Ding Lik Kong on Saturday (Mar 20).
The district’s CID team raided the double-storey building around 11.25pm and found that a space on the ground floor had been converted into an entertainment room with a karaoke set, table, chairs, lights and liquors.
Sibu OCPD ACP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit said that his team found the suspects aged between 17 and 25 enjoying themselves inside the room.
“The six men were locals and the women are Vietnamese whose travel documents had expired.
“All of them failed to provide any valid licence for the entertainment premises from Sibu Municipal Council (SMC). None of them claimed to be the owner of the premises,” he said.
As a result, they were arrested for under Section 5(1) of the Entertainment Ordinance 2000 for entertaining in premises that do not have a valid entertainment licence from SMC, and Regulation 19(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Regulations 2021 for violating the ongoing pandemic standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The foreign women will also be investigated under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for overstaying in the country.
He added that further investigations found the suspects went to the place to entertain as all entertainment centres in the district were closed due to the conditional movement control order (CMCO).
Stanley pointed out that one of the suspects admitted that he booked and rented the ‘pub’ from someone on the day of the incident.
He added that the suspects were brought to Sibu Hospital for Covid-19 swab tests and all tested negative.
The nine suspects are now remanded to facilitate police investigation.
