Dato Aidi Ismail
MIRI: The police have warned the public not to stoke racial tension with regard to an incident at an oil palm plantation in Niah, where a local man was beaten up by security guards.
Sarawak police commissioner Dato Aidi Ismail, in a statement yesterday, said the incident at Ladang 3 in Batu Niah was an isolated case – stemming from a misunderstanding between the parties involved.
“In this regard, the police warn the public not to take matters into their own hands; rather, they must allow police to investigate the matter thoroughly,” he said.
According to Aidi, the incident occurred around 1.45pm on Feb 7 after the local man, an Iban, disobeyed the order by the estate’s auxiliary police to not enter the estate’s factory as it was under the Movement Control Order (MCO).
“He argued with the auxiliary police and threatened to injure them, and then escaped on a motorcycle to the quarters area before punching a security guard at the entry/exit point of the estate,” he said.
Aidi said this led to the security guards beating the man, but they were then stopped by members of the auxiliary police.
Aidi said following the incident, two police reports were lodged at Batu Niah station, which resulted in the local man being detained under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation, and five security guards under Section 324 of the same Code for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means.
However, Aidi said the matter did not end there when the villagers – unhappy that the local man had been beaten – together with the man’s grandfather went to the guardhouse at the plantation in Bukit Peninjau around 9pm on Feb 9, where they locked up and assaulted the guards there.
“This led to another police report being lodged by the guards, leading to the arrest of five villagers under Section 324 for voluntarily causing hurt, and Section 342 for wrongful confinement.”
According to Aidi, all those arrested, including the security guards, are locals – no foreign nationals were involved in the incident, contrary to what certain quarters had alleged.
At the same time, he pointed out that the incident could have been avoided had the auxiliary police personnel at the plantation taken immediate action.
“The investigation papers on this case would be referred to the prosecution head of the State Attorney-General’s Chambers for further action,” said Aidi.
The post Cops warn public against stoking racial tension over beating case at Niah oil palm plantation appeared first on Borneo Post Online.