A senior assistant engineer of the Malaysian Public Works Department will be remanded at Alor Setar Sessions Court with abuse of power and soliciting bribe from several contractors in Sik, Kedah.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission arrested the suspect, 56 at his residence in Alor Setar about 11.30am today.

MACC Director of Investigations, Datuk Simi Abd Ghani when contacted confirmed the arrest.

The suspect had allegedly solicited bribery to ensure that the contractor would be awarded the RM3 million upgrading and maintenance project in Sik.

A source close to the case disclosed to Astro AWANI that MACC is in the midst of gathering information from the contractor who was allegedly forced to give bribery to the suspect.

It is understood that the suspect had contacted and solicited bribery from the contractor via WhatsApp, short messaging system (SMS) indicating the amount as well as the location and time to surrender the money.

In 2016, the suspect had received RM650,000 for awarding a total of 28 projects to seven contractors.