11 men held to assist probe into Butterworth funeral procession

BUTTERWORTH: Police have arrested 11 men to assist in the investigation into a group of individuals for allegedly violating the Movement Control Order's standard operating procedure (SOP) of being involved in a funeral procession from Teluk Air Tawar to the crematorium in Jalan Siram, here, on Thursday (June 17).

Seberang Perai Utara District Police chief ACP Noorzainy Mohd Noor said all of them, aged 15 to 35, were detained at several locations around Butterworth and Mak Mandin between 6 pm and 10 pm yesterday.

Police opened an investigation paper on the incident yesterday after receiving a report regarding a video clip of the funeral procession that had gone viral on TikTok and Facebook.

"Apart from the 11 men, including the teenager, we are still tracking down several other individuals (men) believed to be involved in the incident when accompanying the casket on Thursday.

"So far, we have recorded the testimony of the manager of the funeral services company and, according to him, he had prohibited the group from removing the casket from the vehicle before marching to the crematorium but they were still stubborn (and went ahead with it)," he said when contacted by Bernama last night.

He said the group of men, comprising 15 to 20 people, were believed to be friends of the 23-year-old man who died at the Seberang Jaya Hospital due to tuberculosis.

Noorzainy said all the men arrested would be taken to the Butterworth Sessions Court tomorrow to obtain a remand order to enable the police to conduct further investigations.

"We believe that with the arrest of the 11, we can solve the case. We are completing the investigation paper to be referred to the Deputy Public Prosecutor's office," he said, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 43 of the Societies Act 1966, Section 269 of the Penal Code and Regulation 9 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 2021.

-- BERNAMA