Four male youths, aged 15 to 19, were arrested on Wednesday for their suspected involvement in a series of loan shark harassment cases involving fire.

The Straits Times understands that in these cases, the culprits would set fire to items such as slippers, newspapers and cloth, placed at the front of residential units.

The police said on Thursday that they were alerted to one such case at about 2am the day before in the vicinity of Jurong East Avenue 1. Following investigations, officers arrested an 18-year-old suspect at his Jurong West residence on the same day at about 4.45pm.

Three other suspects were arrested in Bukit Timah, Geylang Bahru and Bukit Batok later that evening. The four youths are believed to have been involved in seven counts of loan shark harassment involving fire between Dec 31 last year and Jan 8 this year.

Under the Moneylenders Act, those found guilty of committing loan shark harassment can be jailed for a term of up to five years, fined between $5,000 and $50,000, and also receive between three and six strokes of the cane.