Eight Men, Including Four Bangladeshi Nationals Nab for Illegal Mining

KOTA BHARU (Kelantan), Sept 21 (Bernama) -- Eight men, including four Bangladeshi nationals, were arrested for allegedly encroaching into the Sokor permanent forest reserve, Tanah Merah in the state of Kelantan, to illegally mine gold. Kelantan state Forestry Department director Zahari Ibrahim said all the men, aged between 18 and 48, were detained at 11 am Wednesday by a team of forestry enforcement officers. “Also confiscated were various equipment and machinery, worth RM100,000, believed to be used for the gold mining works,” he said in a statement here Wednesday. Zahari said the department had been conducting surveillance work and the suspects were found to have been carrying out gold mining in the area without a license over the past one month. They were being detained under Section 47 and 81 of the National Forestry Act for entering the permanent forest area and mining minerals without approval. -- BERNAMA