GEORGE TOWN – An engineer has been detained for allegedly committing assault and criminal violence which resulted in a scuffle with a traffic policeman who had stopped him in an incident in Jalan Tun Dr. Awang, Bayan Lepas here yesterday.
Southwest police chief Superintendent Kamarul Rizal Jenal said the incident occurred at about 6.30 pm near the Penang International Convention Centre (PICC) when the policeman stopped the 51-year-old’s car.
Video footage of the incident has gone viral since this afternoon.
“Video footage of the incident went viral at 12.15 pm today, showing a man roughing up a policeman while on duty.
“An investigation revealed that the incident happened yesterday. The policeman had stopped the motorist for allegedly using his cell phone while driving.
“But the dissatisfied man recorded the incident using his mobile phone,” he said today.
Kamarul said the traffic policeman’s warning for the motorist to refrain from doing so was ignored.
He added that the traffic policeman then tried to arrest the man for preventing him from carrying out his duty by seizing the cell phone for investigation.
The man, however, reacted by using criminal violence against the policeman leading to a scuffle.
“As a result, police detained the man after the incident yesterday. He is currently remanded for three days until June 30 to assist in the investigation.
“The case is being probed under Section 353 of the Penal Code for using criminal force to intimidate a public servant from carrying out his duties, Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing a civil servant from performing his duties and Section 188 of the Penal Code for defying an order issued by a civil servant,” he said.
A two-minute, 55-second video clip of the incident which has since gone viral shows a man allegedly assaulting a traffic policeman who was issuing a summons against him on the side of the road and seizing his cell phone for investigation.
The motorist was seen trying to snatch back his cell phone even though the policeman repeatedly informed him that it was for investigation purposes and asked the motorist to go to the nearby police station for further investigation.
The video footage was believed to have been recorded by a passer-by. It showed another man attempting to calm down the engineer when he allegedly assaulted the traffic policeman.
Source: NEW STRAITS TIMES
