Datuk’s alleged assault case for senior federal counsel

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KOTA KINABALU: The case of a Datuk who allegedly beat and threatened a Kapitan with a firearm will be forwarded to the senior federal counsel for further action after completion of the investigation even though the victim had withdrawn his report against the suspect.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said everyone should abide by the law regardless of whether he or she was a Datuk or not.

He said the police would investigate the case and forward the result to the senior federal counsel for further action.

“To charge or not to charge (the Datuk) is up to the counsel,” he said when asked by the media at a press conference here yesterday.

Hamza added that the pistol owned by the Datuk had been seized by the police.

He reminded firearm owners that they could not act arbitrarily as there were specific guidelines to owning a firearm.

“The police are also supplied with firearms, but there are Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and guidelines when we can act (using firearms), as in when the life of a police officer or the public is threatened.

“In this case, I don’t see the reason to expose the firearm.”

It was reported that the Chinese community leader was having breakfast at 7am at Lido on Saturday, when he noticed a BMW parked in the middle of the road, causing traffic congestion on the lane.

Seeing this, the Kapitan knocked on the window of the BMW to ask the driver to move his vehicle, but the Datuk allegedly lashed out at the Kapitan.

As the Kapitan went back to his car, the Datuk got off his vehicle and demanded the Kapitan to open his door.

As soon as the Kapitan exited his vehicle, the Datuk started beating him up.

The Kapitan apologized to the Datuk as he could not withstand the blows.

The Datuk then questioned the Kapitan if he knew him, and took out his firearm.

The Kapitan immediately ran away and lodged a police report.

As he arrived at the police station, he was shocked to find that the Datuk was already at the police station, lodging a report. However, the Datuk did not cooperate with the police, neither did he hand out his MyKad or relate the incident to the police.

In his drunken state, the Datuk even lashed out at the police and hinted his connection with Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib.

The Kapitan underwent treatment and wound inspection at Queen Elizabeth Hospital at 7.50am the same day.

On another case, Hamza reported that the two suspects shot by the police after attempting to attack the latter in Semporna were now in stable condition.

Hamza believed that the suspects’ arrest could solve many house break-in cases in Semporna.

The first incident happened at 3am at the Semporna central housing area while the police were carrying out a crime prevention operation.

The suspect was said to be behaving suspiciously and suddenly took out a knife and charged at the police, prompting an officer to shoot him in the shoulder.

The second suspect was shot in the leg when he tried to attack the police with a pair of scissors in a separate incident which happened three hours later at Semporna town.

Both suspects were sent to Tawau Hospital for treatment.

“My advice to the public or criminals is that when you are challenged by the police, do not react because the police have the right to defend themselves under the Penal Code.”