Driver caught playing Pokemon Go in Malaysia, issued summon

 A 32-year-old man in Malaysia has been issued a police summon for playing Pokemon Go while driving, in the first such case just two days after the popular augmented reality game was launched in the country.

The man, who has not been identified, along with his friends was going around in Pahang's Kuantan city in his car in order to catch the Pocket Monsters and to track down locations where the game characters appear. While they were trying to catch Pokemons along a road in Kuantan, a traffic police issued summon against the man behind the wheel.

"Summons were issued for the offence of using his handphone while driving. Incidentally, he was playing with Pokemon Go when he was flagged down by the traffic police," Pahang's traffic police chief Noor Yusuf Ali said.

Since it was released in Malaysia on Saturday, Pokemon Go-mania has swept the nation, with thousands of users having downloaded the mobile game onto their phones. Cases of accidents involving Pokemon Go players have been recorded, with some walking into traffic and injuring themselves while few being preoccupied with their phone screens. However, the summon issued against the driver is the first reported case.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai today warned Malaysian drivers not to play the game while driving. Islamic clerics have also cautioned Muslims against playing the location-based game which has become widely popular the world over.