SIBU: A 24-year-old mechanic here was assaulted after he allegedly posted provocative statements on his Facebook account recently.
Sibu deputy police chief Supt Collin Babat said police have arrested three suspects in connection with the attack on Monday night.
“The mechanic suffered head and face injuries as a result of the fight believed to have been caused by provocative statements he posted on his Facebook account,” he said in a media statement.
Collin did not give details of what the mechanic had posted on Facebook.
According to Collin, a 34-year-old security guard and a 33-year-old second-hand car dealer had gone to the victim’s house at Jalan Mengeris at 10pm on Monday to look for him after they came across his comments on Facebook.
He said the victim admitted his mistake and apologised to the duo and deleted two posts on his Facebook account after he was advised to do so.
“However, five minutes later, a technician brought a group of about 20 men and arrived at the scene and allegedly started attacking the victim,” Collin said, adding that police rushed to the scene but the fight had already broken out.
He said the security guard, car dealer and technician were arrested though they claimed they were not involved in the fight.
The police also seized a mobile phone belonging to the mechanic.
Collin said the suspects will be investigated under Section 147/298A/505 of the Penal Code for rioting and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for sharing of offensive content on the Internet.
He said thus far, police had received four reports lodged against the mechanic for making the provocative statements.