ISKANDAR PUTERI, Oct 17 — A 41-year-old man who was heavily indebted was arrested after he filed a false police report claiming that his children were missing.

Iskandar Puteri police chief Assistant Commissioner M. Kumarasan said the father of four claimed that his children aged between two and eight were missing at the Mutiara Rini residential area here.

"Investigators from the district criminal investigation department (CID) were then tasked with tracking down the missing children.

"However, the suspect failed to show the exact location where he last saw his children and his testimony was found to be suspicious.

"Police later managed to locate the suspect’s children who were safe in his wife’s home,” he said in a statement today.

Kumarasan said checks revealed that the suspect owed a substantial amount of money.

"The suspect was believed to have filed a false police report to protect his children from being harassed due to his debts,” he said.

The case is being investigated under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Child Act 2001 for neglect and Section 182 of the Penal Code for filing a false police report.