Orang asli lodge complaint against Gerik police

KUALA LUMPUR: Orang asli community from the Sungai Papan Village in Kenering, Perak have lodged a complaint with the disciplinary section of police at Bukit Aman yesterday against the police in Gerik (Perak) for failing to accept a police report over an alleged shooting incident involving an assemblyman.
They claimed that the Kenering assemblyman Datuk Mohd Tarmizi Idris was on a site visit to a water tank project in the village on Jan 19, when, without any provocation, took a loaded pistol from one of his bodyguards and fired a shot into the air.
Anjang Aluej, who was representing his community, said there were three young children in the nearby river when the assemblyman fired the shot.
"They ran away when they heard the gun shot, with one of them crying in fright," he said.
Anjang told a press conference outside the Bukit Aman police station yesterday that their attempts to make a police report on the incident had been thwarted many times as the police had refused to take their report and even threatened them.
"When we first went to lodge the report on the incident, they (the police) turned us away and asked us to report it to the Umno office," he said.
He added that their second attempt at making a police report was also turned down.
Finally, on their third try, they were allowed to make their report but the police at Gerik had allegedly threatened them with abusive language and discriminatory words, said Anjang.
He said after making the report, the police did not give them a copy.
"We felt like we were the ones who were in the wrong for reporting the incident," he said.
They along with their lawyer Shashi Devan and representatives from the Indigenous Peoples' Network of Malaysia (JAOS) were granted a meeting with ASP Mohamad Alif Habib Shah who accepted their complaint.
"They (the police) have accepted our complaint and they said they will give us a letter in a couple of days informing us of the investigating officer to this case," said lawyer Shashi Devan.
He said the police were cordial and listened to their case.
"The police received us, they were cordial, they listened carefully, read the complaint intently and they answered the questions and assisted in all aspects," he said after their meeting.
Shashi said investigations could take about a week but they will keep contact with investigators to see how they can assist.
Meanwhile, Mohd Tarmizi when contacted, told theSun, he had no knowledge of such an incident.