Hawker fails to identify cops allegedly involved in extortion case

 

Police have called hawker Lim Thiam Fook and his 13-year-old assistant to identify the suspects involved in an extortion case by alleged members of the force. 

However, the duo was unable to identify any of the suspects when they were at the police station yesterday, according to Sentul District police chief ACP Beh Eng Lai. 

As such, the investigation has yet to determine whether the perpetrators were police personnel or fake officers. 

“Yes, we called them to come to the police station for an identification procedure, to identify whether any of the police personnel were involved in the case.

“So far they cannot identify anyone. When the incident occurred, they only saw the eyes of the man. So the investigation is still ongoing,” Beh said. 

On June 6, Thiam Fook and his 13-year-old assistant, accompanied by Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, held a press conference during which he claimed he was extorted by three police personnel while driving to the food court in the early morning of June 2.

He said when the police officers found out he did not have an approval letter from the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) to operate during the lockdown, they threatened to detain the two if they could not pay a fine of  RM3,000.

Thiam Food alleged that the police officers also poured out his stew onto the ground, saying that they had to "check for drugs" before taking RM500 from him to "settle the issue".

Miti has clarified that small-time hawkers do not need its approval letter and that their hawker's permit would suffice to enable them to operate during the ongoing movement control order (MCO 3.0).

Second stage of investigation

The police are investigating this case under Section 384 of the Penal Code for extortion. Last week, the police called Thiam Fook’s father and girlfriend to give statements.

However, Beh said that the police have decided not to call Thiam Fook’s father, who is out of town, to help with the investigation, while his girlfriend has not yet been available to record a statement.

He added that Lip Eng gave his statement to the police last Friday.

On the development of the case, Lip Eng told Malaysiakini that the police should have a logbook showing records of the police patrol's time and places according to their schedule. 

Thus, he believed if the investigating officer deals with the case professionally, it would not be too hard to find the three suspects.

It was reported that the investigation is divided into two phases. The extortion incident claimed by Thiam Fook was found to be true in the first stage.

The police are now trying to find out whether the perpetrators are police personnel or they were impersonating as members of the force.  - Mkini