Cover image via Facebook
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A mother of four has turned to social media to plead with the Road Transport Department (JPJ) after her luxury MPV was seized during an operation in Pahang last month
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, 9 September, the businesswoman claimed her Toyota Alphard was seized by three enforcement officers on 30 August during Ops Luxury, a JPJ crackdown on vehicles with expired road tax.
She admitted forgetting to renew the road tax but claimed she immediately tried to rectify the matter at the scene.
"I begged them to just issue a summons because I was ready to renew it on the spot.
"I even called my insurance agent in front of the officers to update the insurance and road tax right away. But my pleas were ignored," she wrote.
According to her, the incident unfolded in front of her young child, who cried as officers seized the vehicle.
She explained that the MPV was inherited from her late husband, and she feared that reclaiming it after impoundment would involve complicated procedures.
The officers allegedly told her that she could retrieve the car once the road tax was renewed and the Vehicle Ownership Certificate (VOC) was produced.
A CCTV screengrab showing the woman unloading her business items from the car before JPJ officers seized it.
Image via FacebookHowever, despite settling the road tax soon after, she said JPJ refused to release the vehicle, citing standard operating procedures (SOPs)
"They told me I need valid documents as the administrator of my late husband's estate.
"But this is not a criminal's car, not a drug car — just a family vehicle used to send my four children to school and to run my business," she wrote.
The woman added that the Alphard was carrying goods for her business at the time of the seizure, forcing her to cancel her first day of business at a market in Kuantan, where her staff had been waiting to set up a booth.
"Now, even though the road tax is renewed and the car is fully paid off, JPJ still won't release it. Life has become very difficult without my main vehicle.
"So the question is: does your SOP have no compassion at all?
"Must officers just follow the SOP blindly like robots?" she asked.
Her post, which has since gone viral, struck a chord with many netizens who sympathised with her plight and questioned whether JPJ should show more discretion in such cases.
Meanwhile, a Pahang JPJ spokesperson confirmed with China Press that the case is currently under investigation.
