M'sia influencer's car found in river, 4-day search ends after he emerged in Thailand supposedly to marry another woman

The Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) has filed a police report against an influencer and his younger brother for allegedly faking the influencer's alleged disappearance, prompting a four-day search operation.

A car he was supposedly driving was found submerged in a river, but he later emerged in a different country alive and unharmed.

He apparently fled to Thailand to marry another woman.

The police report was lodged on Sunday, Jul. 20, Malaysian media Bernama and New Straits Times (NST) reported.

What happened

Tengku Nizaruddin Tengku Zainudin, 38, was feared to have drowned after the car he was driving was found submerged at Sungai Tui, Muar on Jul. 15, NST reported.

His family posted on Facebook that Tengku had been missing since Jul. 14.

A woman believed to be Tengku Nizaruddin's wife said her husband left their home in Johor Bahru for Muar on Jul. 14.

They remained in contact until about 4pm, after which she was no longer able to reach him.

According to NST, the car Tengku Nizaruddin was driving was found at a depth of about two metres at Sungai Tui.

However, the man was not found inside the vehicle.

Staged incident

A search operation continued for four days before it was called off after police confirmed that the 38-year-old was still alive.

Tengku Nizaruddin had allegedly submerged his wife's car in Sungai Lui before fleeing to a neighbouring country, NST reported.

According to Kosmo, the 38-year-old allegedly crossed the border to get married to another woman in Thailand.

He had allegedly conspired with his 30-year-old brother to fake the incident.

His younger brother later confessed to staging the disappearance and pretended to conduct a search operation to mislead the police investigation, reported NST, citing the police.

The police are currently investigating the case under Section 182 of the Penal Code for providing false information, and Section 109 for abetment in committing an offence.

"Irresponsible and inappropriate"

"JBPM views the act of making a false report related to a disappearance or accident as irresponsible and inappropriate, as it leads to a waste of time and resources of rescue personnel," Senior Fire Superintendent II Norshuhada Amsari said, as quoted by Bernama.

She said that the alleged fabricated report had directed resources that could be utilised to respond to other emergencies.

Norshuhada added that the four-day search operation involved some 30 JBPM officers and personnel from Muar, Labis, and Pagoh.

The Water Rescue Team had also been deployed, along with a drone from the Fire Department.

"We were quite disappointed went police later informed us that the individual was in fact safe and had never been at the reported search location," Norshuhada said, as quoted by Bernama.

Top image via Mingguan Wanita/Facebook