JOHOR BARU: They may be clad in short pants and tight-fitting sleeveless tops, but that does not mean the Chinese nationals staying at a budget hotel in Merlin Tower here are prostitutes.

Johor deputy police chief Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman recently said this in response to complaints that vice activities were being carried out there.

"We conducted checks and found that many of the Chinese national women were staying there with their families and they were mostly tourists."

"The complaints arose probably because they left their rooms in shorts to visit nearby foodstalls," he said.

However, the deputy police chief did not rule out the possibility of vice activities being carried out at the Merlin Tower. He said police were monitoring the place.

Meanwhile, in raids conducted at 26 entertainment centres in the city on Nov 13 and 14, police picked up 72 foreign women on social visit passes who were working as guest relations officers.

The 72 consisted of seven from China, 50 from Thailand, 11 from Indonesia and two from Vietnam and Myanmar, respectively.

Jalaluddin said action would also be taken against the entertainment outlet operators for illegally hiring the foreign women.