Cops question e-hailing driver on two alleged police misconducts

Deaf e-hailing driver Ong Ing Keong was grilled for more than four hours by the police today, during which he was questioned about two separate cases of alleged police misconduct, said his lawyer N Surendran.

The 46-year-old, who was allegedly assaulted by a traffic escort of Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, had his statement recorded by three officers from Bukit Aman’s Integrity and Standard Compliance Department.

Apart from Surendran, Ong (above) was accompanied by a sign language interpreter and Lawyers For Liberty adviser Latheefa Koya.

Surendran said the police asked Ong about the alleged assault on May 28 in the St Regis Hotel lobby and the situation surrounding the first and second police reports lodged at the Brickfields police station on the same day.

“Today’s investigation was on both of those things. The potential wrongdoing or misconduct by the perpetrator (in the first instance).

“And secondly, what happened at the police station that night regarding the subsequent police reports that were made, or rather that were typed up on behalf of Ong and he was asked to sign. Also when he was asked to drop the case and the issue of compensation.

“All that was gone into, including the two subsequent documents that he was made to sign which were obviously police reports,” Surendran said.

Lawyer N Surendran

Previously, Malaysiakini reported that Ong had inked a total of four police reports related to the alleged assault.

Malaysian Deaf Advocacy and Wellbeing Organisation (Dawn) secretary-general Anthony Chong said that Ong had only contributed to one of the reports, which is the first he had lodged after the incident on May 28.

“There were four reports (in total). The first report - he told the police (about the incident) and signed,” Chong told Malaysiakini after checking with Ong.

“Then, in the next three reports, he did not contribute anything. The police got the reports ready and asked him to read and then he signed,” he added.

Papers now with AGC

Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain revealed that the case files have been submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers as of yesterday for further action.

In a message to the media, Razarudin stated that 12 individuals have been questioned so far by investigators.

This includes the alleged victim Ong, the accused escort member, hotel staff who witnessed the incident, members of the police special operations unit, the regent’s drivers, Ong’s friend who assisted him, a doctor who examined Ong, and a Grab operations director.

While urging against premature judgment, the IGP reiterated that the escort has no prior disciplinary issues.

The Johor regent, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, has repeatedly called for a thorough and impartial probe, denying any attempts to implicate the royalty.

In a separate statement, the Bukit Aman’s Integrity and Standards Compliance Department confirmed it is conducting a parallel investigation into disciplinary aspects of the case and Ong had been questioned today to assist the investigation.

“We will study the cause in terms of standard operating procedures to find whether there had been any violation or misconduct in carrying out duties.

“The investigation is still at an early stage and the department will summon other witnesses to complete investigations.” - Mkini