Perak police chief Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said the travel permit was given by an officer in charge of a police station in Selangor to allow the helicopter to travel to Ipoh on a “maintenance round”.

He said five people, including a Datuk and an officer from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, have had their statements taken by police.

“The purpose of the trip was to allow the helicopter to be flown for maintenance purposes for a return trip from Subang to Ipoh, as per their MCO travel permits issued by a police station in Selangor.

“We have completed our investigation papers and will leave it to the prosecutors’ office to decide,” he said.

Mior said the case was being investigated under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 under which the present MCO regulations are in force. He said the scope of investigation concerns interstate travel prohibition.

Last Friday, the Bell 505 helicopter landed on Padang Ipoh to pick up 36 packets of nasi kandar ayam merah, popularly known as Nasi Ganja from an eatery at Jalan Yang Kalsom.

The owner of the helicopter, Mohamed Raffe Chekku, has said the trip was by the book and would cooperate with authorities investigating the incident.