KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — Police ordered the drivers of 1,243 vehicles to turn around at highways yesterday after they were found to be trying to travel out of state without authorisation, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

Most were trying to go back to their hometowns to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri, he added.

"If we compare this, it was more than the day before, which was 1,158 vehicles,” said in his daily security briefing today.

He added that Selangor topped the chart with 685 vehicles ordered to turn back, followed by Negri Sembilan at 133 vehicles and Pahang, 72 vehicles.

Ismail Sabri said that police have also traced some 14 people who snuck across state lines to return to their hometowns.

The defence minister said that many did not believe him when he first announced that police would hunt down those who had managed to slip past the daily interstate roadblocks and made it back to their hometowns.

"Many people didn’t believe me when I said that we would monitor those who had gone back to their kampung and that they would not escape the long arm of the law. Police looked for them and they were caught in their respective villages,” he said.