KUALA LUMPUR: A foreign man took "every man for himself" to new extremes during an early morning Immigration Department raid when he refused to acknowledge his pregnant wife.
The operation, conducted between 2.30am and 3.30am at a squatter-style settlement along Jalan Raja Muda Musa, Kampung Baru, saw Immigration Department personnel knocking on doors and checking nearly 60 people.
Among those checked were a pregnant foreign woman and her husband, who were occupying one of the rooms. When questioned, the man denied being married to the woman, claiming that her husband had returned to Indonesia.
He also stated that he was only there to help care for her.
However, the woman told personnel a different story, confirming that the man was her husband.
She expressed shock at his behaviour during the questioning.
Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department Director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff said 35 officers were involved in the raid.
"They checked 59 foreigners, including 29 men and 18 women from Indonesia, four men and one woman from Thailand, two foreigners with permanent resident status in Malaysia, as well as three local men, one local woman, and a child. Of those checked, 38 were detained, including 24 men and 14 women, for various offences under the Immigration Act," he said.
He added that several undocumented foreign men attempted to flee the scene by climbing onto the zinc roofs of the container squatter houses.
"The men tried to evade arrest by running into the basement parking lot of a nearby building but were later apprehended," he said.