KUALA LUMPUR: Fifteen people, including a woman, have been detained less than 24 hours after they allegedly ignited flares and rode dangerously along Bukit Bintang.
Dang Wangi police chief Assistant Commissioner Sazalee Adam said the suspects, aged between 17 and 30, were detained in Batu Caves, Shah Alam, Dengkil and Kajang.
"The operation was conducted between 12pm and 8pm on Monday, less than 24 hours after the incident," he told a press conference on Tuesday (May 19).
Police also seized two electric scrambler motorcycles and a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
The incident occurred at about 2am on Monday (May 18) and videos of the dangerous actions have since gone viral on social media.
Sazalee said the motive behind the dangerous acts and subsequent shooting of the videos was aimed at promoting a clothing shop in Dengkil.
"One of the suspects detained, a 24-year-old man, was the shop owner," he added.
Initial investigations revealed that the shop owner had hired several people to perform the dangerous stunts.
Each of them was paid between RM50 and RM700.
"Further checks revealed the scramblers are only permitted for off-road riding, thus we will issue summonses for that offence," he said, adding that the shop has been operating for six years.
All suspects have been remanded until Thursday (May 21).
"We will not compromise in taking action against anyone who threatened public order and safety," Sazalee said.
He said the successful arrest of the suspects was possible due to information from the public.
He added that police have opened an investigation under Section 290 of the Penal Code, Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Investigations are also being conducted under Section 42 of the Road Transport Act 1987.
Sazalee urged those with information on any criminal incident to contact the Dang Wangi district police headquarters operations room at 03-2600 2222 or any nearby police station.
It was previously reported that police were tracking down a group believed to have ignited flares while riding on a four-wheel-drive vehicle along Jalan Sultan Ismail.
Sazalee said police detected a video uploaded on the Threads application showing about eight individuals travelling in a four-wheel-drive vehicle and two electric scrambler motorcycles.
The act could pose a danger to public safety, disrupt traffic and threaten the safety of visitors in the popular tourist area.
Sazalee said further checks revealed the group was believed to have been moving around the Bukit Bintang area before the video was uploaded.
"We also detected a banner displaying the numbers '6.6,'" he said.
