JOHOR BARU: Three Indian nationals have been charged at the Sessions Court here with attempting to bribe a policeman as an inducement not to take action against them.

       The accused, Kansara Sanjay Bhojabhai, 42, Chavda Narendra-kumar Ranjitsinh, 35, and Patel Gaurangkumar Hasmukhbhai, 32, pleaded guilty after the charges were read to them before judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail on Thursday.

       The three allegedly tried to bribe a Lans Korporal ranked policeman with cash amounting to RM2,922 for an offence under Regulation 10 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Regulations 2021.

       They allegedly committed the offence at the Johor Baru Sentral police station on Sept 3, this year.

       The act is a violation of Section 17(b) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) 2009 Act, which carries a fine of five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is greater, and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, if convicted.

       The case is prosecuted by MACC prosecution officer Ikhwan Ihsan Jalaludin, while the trio is represented by K. Bharathi.

       Ikhwan Ihsan requested bail be set at RM20,000 for each accused, and that they hand over their international passport and report to the MACC office every month.

       In mitigation, Bharathi said that the trio had been laid off from work at the Tanjung Pelepas Port in Gelang Patah, and requested a lower bail.

       The court set bail at RM8,000 with two sureties for each accused along with the additional terms. The court also set Dec 22 for mention.

       The accused posted bail.