Six nabbed

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have arrested six suspects, including a woman, in connection with the assault of a lorry driver outside a condominium complex in Ampang Jaya following a minor accident involving the victim's lorry and a Mercedes Benz on Jan 14.
Selangor deputy police chief DCP Mohd Fuad Abdul Latiff said a state Criminal Investigation Department team picked up a male suspect on Friday while the woman and four others were detained today.
"The suspects, in their 20s and 30s, were arrested in Selangor and Negri Sembilan. Some of them were picked up by police at their homes while the others surrendered," he said after launching the state level "Ops Selamat 10/ 2017" in conjunction with Chinese New Year.
The assault, which occurred outside the Puncak Athenaeum condominium in Bukit Antarabangsa, attracted wide attention on social media after a video of it went viral recently.
It was initially reported that the case had been settled privately with no police action, but Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar on Friday ordered that the culprits be brought to justice.
"We cannot let such things happen, as if there is no law in this country," he said, when directing police to track down the assailants.
District police chief ACP Hamzah Alias had today debunked rumours that the car was owned by a Datuk, saying it belonged to a woman, and her husband was not a Datuk.
Mohd Fuad said police would be applying for remand orders against the suspects to facilitate investigations.
He said the woman was involved in the case although she was not seen in the video.
"We do not see her assaulting the victim in the video, but we have our reasons for her arrest as we believe she is involved," he said.
Today, a group of lorry drivers gathered in a show of solidarity for the victim at the Sungai Besi toll plaza.
In urging police to take stern action against those responsible, the group, comprising some 200 people from the Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs Alliance of Malaysia (Ikhlas), said their peaceful gathering was to condemn the assault.
Malaysia Truck and Lorry Drivers Association spokesman Hairi Md Ali said the lorry drivers want justice for the victim.
"We just want the public to know that we are lorry drivers and not criminals. This is our source of income. We are not asking for anything else from the public. We just want to some respect from everyone as it is not easy to drive lorries," he told reporters at the gathering.
Hairi said the incident could have been avoided if the men had discussed the matter amicably with the lorry driver.
"They could have approached him and not beat him up right after the incident as the driver did not use his truck to hit the car on purpose," he added.
Ikhlas president Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah said the car owner and his "cronies" should be brought to justice for what they did to the victim.
In the almost three-minute video recorded by an unknown resident of the condominium, the lorry driver could be seen repeatedly being kicked and punched by no less than five people.
Mohd Fuad said the organisers of the gathering, Ikhlas and the association, did not apply for a permit under the Peaceful Assembly Act but consideration should be given to the fact that the drivers were gathering in solidarity with a fellow driver.