KUALA LUMPUR: Fifteen men were charged in the Magistrate’s Court here today with rioting with the aim of causing harm to four employees of an entertainment outlet, last month.
They are V. Gobi Ramanan, M.K. Kannan, S. Somasundaram, M. Pushpanathnan, C. Thayalan, M.Thiru Vijaya Kumar, M. Mathan, V. Batmanthan, S. Ganesh, Muhammad Shahrul Anuar Sharizan, D. Nathan, Muhammad Shanker Sekaran, S. Pirabu, R.S. Muguntan and A.J. Nicholus, aged between 24 and 47.
However, they pleaded not guilty after the charges against them were read out before magistrate Tawfiq Affandy Chin.
The accused who are members of an illegal gang were charged with three people still at large, with the intention to cause hurt to four men, Chan Kam Lung, Tan Chia Moon, P. Thiruvasan and Azman Sidek and during the incident had damaged properties and used force against the victims.
They were charged with committing the offence at an entertainment outlet at Menara UP, Jalan Puchong, Brickfields, here at 11.25 pm on Nov 25 under Section 147 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34, which provides for a jail term of up to two years or a fine or both, if convicted.
Deputy public prosecutor, Nurilya Ellyna Nor Azmal proposed RM5,000 bail with one surety for each accused.
However, in pleading for lower bail, lawyers J. Gunamalar, S. Kailash, John Das, Shashi Devan and Datuk Joshua Sambanthan said their clients had to support their family members.
The court allowed each accused bail of RM3,000 with one surety and set Jan 14, 2021 for case mention.
Meanwhile, in the same court, Pushpanathnan pleaded not guilty to having a “04” gang tattoo on his left arm with the intention of being a member of a secret society gazetted as illegal by the Malaysian government.
He was charged with committing the offence at the investigating officer’s office, Brickfields district police headquarters, here at 7.30 pm on Dec 1 under Section 52 (3) of the Societies Act 1966 which carries a jail term of up to five years or a fine not exceeding RM15,000 or both, upon conviction.
The prosecution offered a bail of RM5,000 with one surety, while lawyer Gunamalar representing the accused, requested one surety for both charges.
The court allowed the accused bail of RM2,000 with one surety and set the same date (Jan 14) for case mention. — Bernama
