THE SWOOP AGAINST CYBER GAMBLING CONTINUES

OPERATION ..... More computers were seized as police stormed the underground cyber gambling den in Permai Timur Road on Tuesday.

By : RAYMOND TAN

SIBU: A Primary 6 pupil was among four boys arrested on Tuesday in a continuing effort by police to stem underground cyber gambling here. Police said the three other boys were not more than 15 years old and all were students.

They said the boys were caught in a den on the first floor of a shop lot at Permai Timur Road at 3pm during a raid conducted by the police’s D7 Unit led by Insp Heng Kok How.

A woman manning the centre was also arrested, and seized were 10 computers believed to be gambling tools and table money amounting to RM100.

Although the boys were only gambling with coins, with each betting not more than RM1, residents who saw the raid said their indulgence was bad enough to destroy their future.

The boys were released after questioning.

The raid was the second in two days after police raided a den at Teng Kung Suk Road on Monday afternoon where they arrested seven gamblers and a woman manning the centre.

Seized there were also 10 computers and table money also amounting to RM100.

The same team set out again yesterday and arrested 10 gamblers and a woman besides seizing 19 computers and table money of RM200.

Meanwhile, Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) Chairman, Datuk Tiong Thai King continued to speak out against cyber gambling in Sibu.

Speaking at the Malaysia Hawkers’ Day celebration on Monday night, he drew a line between the duties of the police and his council.

He said the council’s duties were linked to offences committed by traders, like displaying goods at the five-foot way that contravened the regulations, “but it is the police who are armed in law to act against illegal activities and crimes like cyber gambling, thefts and murders”.

Tiong further said SMC had been flooded with calls from concerned parents on the rampant crime in Sibu.

“They asked me why I did not take action against the illegal gambling; I told them about the distinctive nature of duties between the police and my council.”

On public enquiry why the police had not acted against cyber gambling, Tiong said: “I don’t know. But, this is an action which the police must seriously think about.

“As the crime involving illegal cyber gambling had sounded an alarm, and in the heat of public condemnation, the police must act now; I hope Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be concerned as this crime affects the wellbeing of a nation.”

Tiong said he had also held a dialogue with the police in Sibu on this.

“Indeed, security in Sibu has hit a red alert; cyber gambling must be dealt with.”

Tiong first spoke against cyber gambling when he said in a press conference on Sunday that SMC would sue a DAP leader for linking it with the gambling business. (BP)