Many blame snatch thieves, robbers for lost IC to avoid fines: Police
JOHOR BARU: Johor police today advised the public not to make a false police report on their lost identity card (IC) to avoid being fined by the National Registration Department (NRD), as this could get them into trouble with the law.
State police chief, Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd said between January and July this year, 100 cases of making false police reports were recorded by the Johor Bahru Selatan district police headquarters (JBS IPD), with 32 of the cases charged in court.
"These 32 cases were charged under Section 182 of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term not exceeding six months or a fine of up to RM2,000, or both, for making a false police report.
"I urge the public not to take this lightly, don't simply create stories as we will thoroughly investigate the police reports lodged.
"This is my directive since way back; if there are such reports made, we will investigate as there are genuine cases of victims (of snatch theft or robbery) losing their identity card, while there are also those trying to avoid paying a fine imposed by the NRD, " he told reporters after a working visit to the JBS IPD, here today.
Wan Ahmad Najmuddin said the investigating officer himself would probe each police report lodged, whereby the victim would be taken to the location where he or she had claimed to be robbed and to relate the incident.
"Usually their statement and police report would be conflicting, while some pretended not to remember what actually happened.
"When we investigated, we found that they had made a police report out of fear of being fined by the NRD, and actually lost their identity card due to their own negligence."
He said out of the 100 false police reports lodged, 62 cases were being investigated while six were still being heard in court as the complainants had pleaded not guilty to the charge.
According to the NRD website, the fine for first-time loss of IC is RM100, RM300 for the second time and RM1,000 for the third time, excluding the application fee.
To replace a lost IC for the first time, the applicants can go straight to the NRD counter, while for the second and subsequent replacement applications, they must first make a police report on the loss before applying at the NRD counter.
The application for replacement of IC after the third and subsequent loss will be investigated before it is replaced.
In the meantime, a temporary identity document is given to all applicants before the replacement IC is issued to them. — Bernama