Four charged with rioting over assault on lorry driver

Four men accused of assaulting lorry driver Nasrul Faiz Zulfahmi in Bukit Antarabangsa on Jan 14 claimed to trial to charges of rioting at a  magistrate's court in Ampang this afternoon.

Business owners Vigneswaran Thirvadamany and Tengku Hazrul Shah Tengku Hamid, Kuala Lumpur City Hall officer Mohd Neezam Jelani and driver Izakri Zakaria were charged under Section 147 of the Penal Code for being present, joining, or being part of a riot which can cause injury.

The charge sheet says two other individuals sought for the offence are still at large.

Magistrate Mohamad Izwan Mohamed Noh set bail at RM4,000 each.

Vigneswaran also faced an additional charge under Section 323 of the Penal Code for causing injury to a Nepali security guard. He pleaded not guilty.

For this charge, an additional bail of RM2,000 was set for the 40-year-old businessman.

Mention for both cases has been set for Feb 7.

Asked why there were no assault charges, deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Zuhaini Mahamad Amin said there might be additional charges in the future.

"The instruction from the Attorney-General's Chambers is that these are the charges to be laid for now," Ahmad Zuhaini told reporters after the court adjourned.

Vigneswaran, Tengku Hazrul Shah, Mohd Neezam and Izakri were accused of committing the offences at the Puncak Athenaeum condominium about 2.30pm on Jan 14.

A video clip of the incident, which went viral on social media, showed a man clad in a green T-shirt pinning Nasrul to the ground and repeatedly hitting him.

Following this, several other individuals arrived at the scene and repeatedly kicked the man who was on the ground.

The video recording of the assault was accompanied with a message that claimed the victim was assaulted for accidentally reversing into a Datuk’s Mercedes Benz.

However, inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said no 'Datuk' was involved in the case.- Mkini