Mohd Zaidi (left) showing the clothing the woman wore when the incident happened at the Ops Covid roadblock along Jalan Kepayan on June 1.
KOTA KINABALU: The woman who created a stir with police at a roadblock along Jalan Kepayan which went viral in social media, has been detained by police for investigation.
Kota Kinabalu police chief ACP Mohd Zaidi Abdullah said the 34-year-old woman was held at a condominium along Jalan Lintas, here around 11.20am on Sunday.
Mohd Zaidi said the woman would be remanded for two days to assist investigation under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation.
Mohd Zaidi however said police have applied to the court to extend the remand for another two days as they need more time to complete investigation.
“Investigation is about 80 percent complete and we need a couple more days to complete the investigation.
“Although the incident happened on June 1, a police report was only lodged recently,” he told a press conference at the Kota Kinabalu police headquarters on Monday.
The viral video was said to have been taken around 5.30pm on June 1 showing the woman, believed to be an entrepreneur and part-time model, apparently scolding policemen at the Ops Covid roadblock after she was pulled over for driving with an expired road tax and insurance.
The 34-year-old woman who was driving a Toyota Harrier, was seen ranting against a traffic policeman who ordered her to park her vehicle along the roadside at the roadblock after detecting that the road tax and insurance had expired since January this year.
In the viral video, she is seen getting angry and shouting at the policemen who were seen to remain calm.
A police officer also came in to ask her to leave but she continued to rant at the policeman. The policemen then issued her two traffic summonses – one for expired road tax and another for expired insurance.
A senior officer at the roadblock then ordered the woman to leave the area and asked the traffic policeman to lodge a police report.
The woman among others claimed that she was made to wait for 30 minutes and can be heard telling the policeman on the etiquette to treat a woman.
The woman was apparently irked that she had to wait for 30 minutes at the roadblock.
Meanwhile, Mohd Zaidi dismissed the allegation made by the woman that she was forced to wait for 30 minutes at the roadblock.
“The time she was stopped, asked to pull to the side to avoid a traffic jam and the time the summons was issued to her by my officers was less than 30 minutes.
“So for her to claim that she had to wait for 30 minutes is totally false,” said Mohd Zaidi.
Mohd Zaidi also clarified that the viral video was recorded by a security personnel at the roadblock after seeing the commotion.
“Police believed the recording was spontaneous by one of the personnel on duty, but it was not supposed to be shared to the public.
“Investigation has also been carried out on police officers and Rela (People’s Volunteer Corps) personnel who were on duty when the incident happened.
“We have also recorded their statements to identify whether there was any provocation made by police officers or other security personnel at the roadblock,” he said.
Mohd Zaidi therefore advised the public to lodge their complaint to the right channel if they believed they were treated unfairly by security personnel so appropriate action and investigation can be carried out.