Sarawak cop, gangsters assault youth

Sarawak DAP wants the IGP to act on 21-year-old
Andrewson Ngalai’s report against a police inspector.

By Joseph Tawie

KUCHING: A police inspector attached to the General Operations Force (GOF) not only aided and abetted a group of gangsters in assaulting a 21-year-old coffeeshop worker, but also took part by slapping the youth in the early hours of March 14.

The inspector’s act was caught on a CCTV camera in a coffeeshop at MJC Batu Kawah where Andrewson Ngalai anak Tandang works.

After Andrewson lodged a report at the MJC Batu Kawah police station on the same day, the man seen in the CCTV was identified as the police inspector attached to the GOF at Batu Kawah by other officers.

Relating the incident at the DAP headquarters here today, Andrewson said that when he came out of a karaoke outlet, two men approached him.

While one held him, the other hit him with an iron rod. All this happened in front of the police inspector.

Andrewson said he and his friends were upstairs in their hostel above the coffeeshop when they heard a knock on their door.

“A man identifying himself as a police officer demanded that five of my friends and I go down stairs to the coffeeshop.

“In the coffeeshop, I was slapped by the inspector. His action was caught on CCTV,” he said, showing the wounds on his head and eyes to reporters.

Andrewson received several stitches on his head.

“The gangsters seized six handphone sets from us and demanded we pay them RM500. The inspector was present all the time,” he said.

Police brutality

Andrewson said that in the police report, he was asked to lodge a report against the gangsters but not against the police.

After the report was made, he said that he received a call from the inspector to withdraw the report.

Fearing for his safety, he went to Chong Chieng Jen, who is Sarawak DAP secretary, to seek his advice.

Accompanied by Chong, Andrewson made another police report, this time against the inspector.

Commenting on the incident, Chong, who is also Bandar Kuching MP, condemned the police brutality and abuse of power.

“In the first place what was the inspector doing there with these shady characters who robbed Andrewson and his friends of their handphone sets?

“This is a very serious incident where a police inspector is working in cahoots with gangsters.

“I will write to the Inspector-General of Police [Ismail Omar]… demanding immediate action against the officer for abetting and aiding in the commission of a crime.

“If this matter is allowed to be covered up, no one will have any more confidence in the police,” he said.