14 charged with stealing sand

MACHANG: Fourteen suspects, including a contractor, were charged at the Machang Magistrate’s Court here yesterday for alleged illegal dredging and removal of sand.

All the accused who were not represented however, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read by court interpreter before Magistrate Amal Razim Alias.

The 14 accused were Muhammad Hakimi Hamzah, 32; Tengku Harunarashid Tengku Alias, 44; Muhamad Nur Arief Mat Husin, 18; Mohamad Farid Haziq Abd Rahim, 25; Norhisham Mah Hashim, 28; Mohd Saifulazan Mohd Sauffie, 29; Abdul Hadi Hamzah, 20; Zulkiflie Sulaiman, 33; Wan Ahmad Wan Ismail, 55; Ismail Mahmood, 57; Mohammad Faris Afizul Mohd Rozali, 20; Muhammad Abdul Aziz Hamzah, 23; Muhammad Saifful Amin Zahariman, 28, and Mohamad Shahrul Nizam Mohamad Noor, 22.

They were jointly charged with committing the offences at Jalan Tok Bok to Selising, Mukim of Tok Bok, Labok District here at 12.30pm on Feb 23.

All the accused were charged under Section 426 (1) of the National Land Code 1965 read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code which provides for a fine not exceeding RM500,000 or a maximum jail term of five years or both.

Earlier, the Kelantan Land and Mine Office, Special Task and Prosecution Division Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Helmi Mat Zin urged the court to impose bail at RM10,000 per person but Amal Razim allowed bail of between RM2,000 and RM3,000 each with one surety after they appealed for a lower bail amount stating various reasons.

The case is set for re-mention on Aug 28. - Bernama