GEORGE TOWN: The police have opened three investigation papers into an alleged clash between Penang Island City Council (MBPP) enforcement officers and a food truck operator in Padang Kota, here Tuesday.
Penang police chief Datuk T. Narenasegaran said the investigations, which commenced today, were being conducted under Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing a public servant from carrying out his duty, Section 427 of the same code for committing mischief and Section 43 of the Road Transport Act 1987 for dangerous driving.
“Both the trader and the MBPP have lodged police reports. We have also identified those involved and recorded the statements of some of the witnesses,” he told the media after the launching of the E-Bicycle and Strategic Assignment of the Tourist Police Unit at the Penang International Airport here.
He was commenting on three recent viral videos regarding the incident, which saw the side window of the food truck being allegedly broken by the enforcement personnel, as well as of the truck being blocked by the enforcement vehicle and the two vehicles colliding.
Meanwhile, a spokesman from MBPP’s Corporate Communications and Public Relations Division said the local authority had already lodged a police report on the incident which occurred when its officers were conducting an integrated operation at 9.20pm.
According to the spokesman, in the operation which included six personnel from the Licensing Division and eight from the MBPP Enforcement Department at Jalan Tun Syed Shah Barakbah, several food truck operators were found to be conducting business without valid licenses issued by MBPP under the Hawker By-Laws 1979.
“When the action was being taken, the owner of the vehicle attempted to escape and acted aggressively, crashing into the MBPP enforcement tow truck, and posed a threat to the personnel as well as the public,“ he said in a statement.
He said according to MBPP’s records, this was the second case involving the same truck driver, the first time being on Oct 25, 2017. — Bernama
Below are videos that went viral of the incident:
https://bit.ly/2kJchgL
