China national who went missing in Johor's Kota Tinggi forest reserve detained for alleged illegal hiking
The man, who is a Singapore permanent resident, has been referred to Johor’s deputy public prosecutor for hiking without a permit.
Amir Yusof
20 Sep 2022 02:09PM (Updated: 20 Sep 2022 03:26PM)
JOHOR BAHRU: A Chinese national who was found safe after going missing while hiking in the Panti Timur Forest Reserve in Kota Tinggi has been detained for alleged illegal hiking, Johor Forestry Department said on Tuesday (Sep 20).
The department’s director Salim Aman told CNA that the man, Jason Ren Jie, has been detained while his case is being referred to the Deputy Public Prosecutor for further investigation.
“The man has been detained with the forestry department since he was released from hospital on Sunday,” said Mr Salim.
“This is not a serious case so we did not put him in lock up but based on an understanding with him, he will be held at our premises,” he added.
Johor police earlier told CNA that the man was a Singapore citizen. However, the Johor forestry department’s Mr Salim and a spokesperson from the Kota Tinggi police division confirmed to CNA on Tuesday that he is a China national with Singapore permanent residency.
Mr Salim added that the man’s case has been referred to the deputy public prosecutor and he will likely be charged under section 47 of the National Forestry Enactment 1985 for hiking in a forest reserve without a permit.
“For this offence, he may receive a maximum fine of RM10,000 (US$2,200) or be jailed for up to 3 years or both,” he added.
“We detained him because he is a foreign national,” said Mr Salim.
“If he was local, we would have released him on police bail, but because he is foreign, he will be detained until the case is settled,” he added.
Related:
Singaporean hiker who went missing in Kota Tinggi forest reserve found safe with minor injuries: Johor police
According to Kota Tinggi police, the hiker and another companion who is a Malaysian citizen started hiking together at around 11.30am on Saturday morning and became separated about two hours later.After the police were alerted, a team from Batu Ampat police station was dispatched to the scene. A search and rescue operation was then conducted with the assistance of the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department from Kota Tinggi fire and rescue station, as well as the Forestry Department.
In a statement on Sunday afternoon, Kota Tinggi police chief Hussin Zamora said that his division received a call at around 2.20pm by a member of the public, informing them that the hiker who was reported missing earlier had been located at the 52-kilometre mark of the Kota Tinggi-Mersing highway.
"Based on this information, a response team was mobilised to the location and reported that the victim was found safe and only suffered minor injuries," said Mr Hussin.
"The victim was brought to Kota Tinggi Hospital for medical treatment and will be released to the Forestry Department for further action because he did not obtain a permit to enter the forest reserve," he added.
In his statement, Mr Hussin also urged those keen to hike in the forest reserve to obtain a permit from the forestry department first to "prevent an incident like this from recurring".
