Insulted and disappointed: We dived into muddy waters over 10 times, says Bomba officer

The Star

a day ago

PETALING JAYA: Fire and Rescue Department personnel dived into a muddy river in Johor more than 10 times in hopes of finding a missing person.
But it was all for nothing because it was based on a false police report lodged by a motoring influencer and his younger brother about the former's disappearance.
'We were insulted by the false report that was made,' said Senior Fire Superintendent II Norshuhada Amsari.
She said this when reading an impact statement in the proceedings against the brothers at the Magistrate's Court in Muar on Friday (July 25), reported Sinar Harian.
In the case, the influencer, Tengku Nizaruddin Tengku Zainudin, 38, widely known online as Ija, and Tengku Abdul Aziz Tengku Zainudin, 30, both pleaded guilty to making a false report and conspiring against civil servants at the Lenga police station in Muar at 11.38pm last Tuesday (July 15).
The brothers were jailed for one month and ordered to pay a RM1,500 fine each by the court for lodging a false police report about the influencer's disappearance.
In her impact statement, Norshuhada said the rescue operations by her team at Sungai Tui, Bukit Kepong had endangered the safety of her personnel and disrupted other missions which were more important.
'Our water rescue unit officers dived more than 10 times into the muddy river, with limited vision in dark surroundings,' she said.
Magistrate Suzana Mokhtar allowed Norshuhada, who was the commander of the operation, to read her statement after the brothers pleaded guilty to their charge.
Norshuhada said the actions of the brothers had caused the government to bear losses in terms of assets and logistics, including the usage of rescue boats, operation machinery, diving gear, drones and fuel.
'What's worse is that the false report disrupted our operations which were supposed to be focused on a real case involving a victim that had fallen from the Sungai Gersik bridge on July 17.
'We are very disappointed to be used. It has affected the morale and team's credibility, as well as the faith in the public towards the department,' she added.