80 pct beggars nabbed in Kelantan are Welfare Dept aid recipients

State JKM Enforcement Division assistant director Mohamad Md Nor said, usually, they picked popular spots to carry out their activities such as the front of a bank, at the Muhammadi Mosque compound, Siti Khadijah Market and Laman Hijau.

He said, among the reasons given by these beggars was that they wanted to get extra money to cover the cost of medical treatment.

"We would like to remind the public not to be duped and be careful when giving alms and donations as almost 80 per cent of those arrested are recipients of JKM monthly assistance.

"JKM also launched a 'Bijak Membantu Elak Tertipu' campaign to raise awareness among the public to offer suitable assistance to beggars because we found that some of them have savings up to RM20,000," he said.

He said this to reporters at the state JKM office, here, after participating in the JKM's Beggar Integrated Operation with several agencies including the Immigration Department and Kota Bharu Municipal Council (MPKB) involving 32 personnel, today.

Commenting further on the operation, Mohamad said his office had nabbed a total of 10 beggars involving nine locals and a Thai citizen, aged 50 to 77.

He said, during the operation conducted from 9.30 am to 2 pm, two of the beggars arrested were found to be using fake documents from the Kelantan Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIK) to request donations for surau and mosques in the state.

"We will document all the locals detained, whether they will be sent to old folks' homes or given a stern warning including signing a Letter of Undertaking, while the detained Thai national will be handed over to the Immigration Department.

"We also do not rule out the possibility that the number of beggars will increase, especially a week before Aidilfitri because more people will distribute alms then," he said.