ALOR GAJAH – Police have confirmed that a senior citizen who allegedly violated a quarantine order had in fact ran out of petrol en route to Alor Gajah Hospital to remove the Covid-19 pink wristband.
The man, wearing the quarantine wristband, had been photographed and gone viral on WhatsApp and Facebook.
Alor Gajah district police chief Arshad Abu said when the 69-year-old ran out of petrol, he refuelled at a petrol station at Masjid Tanah at about 9.54am Saturday. This was when an image of him was captured and it went viral.
The police chief said an initial investigation found that the victim was ordered to undergo quarantine at his house in Pengkalan Balak from January 13 until Saturday.
He said the man, who was with his wife and daughter, stopped at Masjid Tanah Petron, which was the first one he found on the way.
According to Arshad, the victim only realised that a photograph of him at the petrol station had gone viral today after being informed by his son. The man then lodged a report at the Masjid Tanah police station at about 1pm yesterday.
He added that the victim made the report in order to reveal the real situation and asked the individual who circulated the image to delete it from social media. He also asked netizens to stop transmitting the image. – Bernama, January 24, 2021