'No further action' on deputy minister’s alleged threats

A police report accusing Deputy Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji of threatening members of the public while on the campaign trail for the Cameron Highlands by-election has been classified as “no further action" (NFA).

“Preliminary findings by the investigating officer have been referred to the deputy public prosecutor.

“Since there was only a verbal argument, and there was no utterance of threats, no fighting and no injuries among the two parties involved, therefore the case has been NFA-ed,” a police officer told Malaysiakini on Monday.

Police also said that a separate report accusing Tengku Zulpuri of abusing government machinery during the campaign has been referred to the MACC for further action.

The preliminary findings of the investigation, they said, had already been referred to the deputy public prosecutor, but it was found that nothing in the Election Offences Act 1954 is applicable to the use of vehicles during the campaign period.

The case is therefore classified as “refer to other agency” by the deputy public prosecutor for further action by the MACC.

Both reports were lodged by the then-BN candidate for Cameron Highlands, Ramli Mohd Nor (below), who later won the by-election on Jan 21.

In one report, Ramli claimed that Tengku Zulpuri had stopped the vehicle that he and his aides were travelling in on Jan 20.

"We were blocked by a man who stood on the middle of the road, and when we stopped, we were greeted with a rude voice asking one of my aides to surrender his phone.

"When one of my aides went down from the car to calm the situation, we realised that the man was Tengku Zulpuri, the deputy minister of water, land, and natural resources.

"Then came the provocation. He climbed into our car with the intention to snatch the mobile phone of my aide, and he also uttered bad words at our driver and the passengers in the car," Ramli alleged.

Ramli's other police report accused Tengku Zulpuri of using a Pahang Forestry Department four-wheel drive vehicle for campaign purposes.

The police report was made after images of the vehicle bedecked with Pakatan Harapan flags circulated on social media.

The BN-led Pahang state government had confirmed that the vehicle belonged to its state Forestry Department and demanded its return. - Mkini