Police record cafe owner's statement in probe into SOP violation by minister

KOTA BHARU: Police have recorded the statement of a cafe owner in Kalai, Jeli, about 108 km from here, in connection with investigations into alleged breach of COVID-19 prevention standard operating procedure (SOP) by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

Jeli district police chief DSP Ahmad Arifin said the cafe owner gave his statement at the Jeli district police headquarters yesterday afternoon.

"After seeing a viral photo (of the incident), we called up the cafe owner to give a statement. Apart from him, police will call three other individuals (including Mustapa) soon to help in the investigation.

"The case is being investigated under Section 269 of the Penal Code and Regulation 17(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Regulations (Measures within an Infection Area) 2021," he told Bernama when contacted today.

Yesterday, Mustapa, who is the Member of Parliament for Jeli, apologised for violating the SOP, saying he would leave it to police to take the appropriate action.

Meanwhile, AlFath Cafe owner Abdul Syafizi Sallah, 26, when contacted, said Mustapa had visited his shop to find out about his success in using social media in his business.

As an entrepreneur under the MyDigital initiative in Jeli, Abdul Syafizi has been receiving guidance since the end of last year on the best ways to conduct his business online amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Datuk Seri Mustapa visited my cafe on Saturday to see for himself the success of this programme which has helped my business. He was very impressed as my sales are better than others'.

"Regarding the serving of food, actually I merely presented him the menu to show what the cafe offers. He spent only about 10 minutes at the cafe before leaving," he added.

-- BERNAMA