Cops nab 10 Bangladeshi and Nepali sex workers

GEORGE TOWN: Foreigners seem to be getting bolder.

From opening grocery and coffee shops to catering to their countrymen, now they are also opera­ting entertainment outlets to offer sexual services.

Acting on a tip-off, police picked up 10 women – six Bangladeshis and four Nepalis – who were wor­king as guest relation officers du­ring a midnight raid in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah here yesterday.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said the women were aged between 23 and 30.

“We also detained a 38-year-old Bangladeshi who is the manager.

“He has permanent resident status,” he said, adding that several patrons and seven Bangladeshi workers were also rounded up to assist in the probe.

ACP Mior said initial investigations revealed that all the foreigners did not have valid documents to stay in the country.

“This is the second raid. The previous one was due to a fight there.

“The operating licence is owned by a local,” he said, adding that po­­lice had proposed to the Penang Is­land City Council to revoke its operating licence to prevent social ills.

Police are investigating the ow­ner under Section 55B of the Immi­gra­­tion Act 1959/63 for hiring fo­reigners without valid work permits.

ACP Mior said the foreigners would also be investigated under Section 6(3) of the same Act for not possessing valid travel documents and under Section 39 of Immigra­tion Regulations 1963 for violating their social visit passes.

On another matter, ACP Mior said a total of 411 foreigners were screened during Ops Rantau in Relau and Jalan Perak on Friday.

A total of 19 foreigners, including five Indonesian women, were detained.

ACP Mior said the foreigners, aged between 20 and 40, had vio­­lated Section 6(3) of the Act for not possessing valid travel documents and Section 15(4) for overstaying.

“The foreigners were from Indo­nesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines,” he said.