A TOUR bus driver who hid an illegal immigrant in the luggage compartment of his bus was jailed for 28 months and ordered to be given four strokes of the cane on Tuesday.

Malaysian Ganesh Kumar Rajagopalan, 34, admitted to engaging in the business of conveying Li Chang Zhong, 41, whom he had reasonable grounds to believe to be a prohibited immigrant, in the vehicle on May 3.

A district court heard that one Kumar, a Malaysian, offered him an alternative to earn money when Ganesh wanted to borrow money for his mother's medical expenses in April.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.