SINGAPORE - Two boys aged 12 and 17 have been arrested for allegedly spitting inside public lifts in Housing Board blocks.

This comes after the police said earlier that they were investigating three teenagers for spitting on the lift buttons in a lift at Rumbia LRT station.

The police said on Friday (Feb 28) that they received two separate reports on Sunday and Tuesday that spittle had been found on the mirrors and buttons inside the lifts of HDB blocks along Punggol Walk and Ang Mo Kio Street 32.

In the light of the coronavirus outbreak, these incidents caused alarm and annoyance, the police said.

With the help of police cameras, officers from the Ang Mo Kio police division identified the two boys.

Police are currently investigating them.

Anyone found guilty of being a public nuisance can be fined up to $2,000.

If the public nuisance act is found to have caused or will probably cause common injury, danger or annoyance to the public, those found guilty can be jailed for up to three months, fined up to $2,000, or both.

However, those under the age of 16 cannot be jailed.

"Everyone needs to play their part by observing good personal hygiene and being socially responsible," the police said.

Earlier, on Feb 20, SBS Transit said on Facebook that it had lodged a police report after spittle was found on the buttons of a lift at Rumbia LRT station.

On Feb 22, the police said that it was investigating three 15-year-olds over the incident for an offence of mischief.

Preliminary investigations found that they had spat on the lift buttons on Feb 19 at about 6.10pm.