Cops bust begging syndicate

KUALA LUMPUR: Police rescued 11 children and arrested five Rohingya “guardians” after busting a begging syndicate which used children as beggars.

The racket, police learnt, was run by foreigners.

The raids were launched after police received a tip-off on the syndicate’s activities.

Bukit Aman Special Tactical Squad for Anti-Vice, Gambling and Gangsterism principal assistant director SAC Mohd Nadzri Hussain said police had carried out surveillance since November last year to clamp down on the problem.

“The syndicate, led by a man and four women, used children to beg under the pretext of collecting donations for religious causes. Their modus operandi is by selling packets of tissue papers and Quranic verses to the people around Bukit Bintang and KLCC besides asking for donations,” he said yesterday.

Nadzri revealed the so called “guardians” would force the children to beg from 7pm to 11pm.

“The guardians and the children stayed at an apartment in Ampang. They would get to the city by bus. When the children are released to beg, the guardians will monitor them from the streets and pedestrian walkways near KLCC and Bukit Bintang.”

He said the children were also trained to target tourists and force them to donate by pulling their clothes to get their attention and sympathy.

The syndicate could collect between RM80 and RM90 a day.

The suspects were arrested by a police team from the federal anti-human trafficking unit at 11pm on Sunday.

Police also seized nine United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees cards, eight handphones, 32 slips of Quranic verses, tissue paper packs and RM532.

The case is being investigated under section 14 of the AntiTrafficking in Persons and AntiSmuggling of Migrants 2007 and section 6(1) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.