Kuala lumpur: A total of 98 Bangladeshis were denied entry into Malaysia during a screening operation conducted by the Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) at the International Arrival Hall, Terminal 1, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), early today.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the operation, which took place from 1 am to 7.30 am today, involved an inspection of 181 foreign visitors, with 98 found to have failed to comply with the country's entry requirements and were given Not To Land (NTL) notices.

AKPS stated that the visitors involved were part of a group arriving from Dhaka, Bangladesh, via an early morning flight, possibly to evade stricter checks during daytime. Key reasons for their refusal of entry included fake hotel bookings, lack of return tickets, and insufficient financial means to stay in Malaysia.

The agency indicated that all the visitors were believed to have intended to misuse the country's entry facilities to live and work illegally.

According to AKPS, the operation is part of ongoing efforts to maintain national security and preserve the sovereignty of the country's borders. The agency emphasized that control of the country's entry points will continue to be tightened with stricter monitoring operations to prevent entry fraud, alongside uncompromising action against any parties, including personnel colluding in illegal entry of foreign nationals.