YB. R.S.N RAYER - A.D.U.N. SERI DELIMA, PENANG

PENANG: A car accessory shop co-owner and his worker are crying foul that plainclothes po-licemen manhandled and detained them over a ‘minor misunderstanding’ with some enforce-ment officers.

Hoo Chuan Beng, 33, said he and his worker Richard Teh Wei Ling, 23, were detained for allegedly obstructing two Seberang Prai Mu- nicipal Council (MPSP) employees and a po- lice volunteer reserve (PVR) member from carrying out their duties at their shop in Jalan Prai Jaya 2 in Butterworth around noon on Tuesday.

Teh said they had wanted to clamp the wheel of a customer’s car and he hurriedly shif-ted the car away.

He said the incensed PVR member scolded him ‘kurang ajar (rude)’, banged the car’s bon-net and announced that he wanted to clamp and tow away all the cars there.

Chuan Beng said that after the three men had left, three council staff members and four plainclothes policemen came to the shop about 6pm that day.

He said the policemen shouted and pinned him to the floor and handcuffed him without showing their identification.

Teh said he was punched in the sto- mach.

“We are considering legal action against the police,” they said at a press conference called by the state DAP here yesterday.

Chuan Beng’s brother Chuan Oon, 31, who is the shop’s co-owner, lodged the police report at the Bukit Mertajam police station on Tues-day evening.

State DAP legal aid bureau member R.S.N. Rayer said the police arrested the duo without following proper procedures.

Bukit Mertajam deputy OCPD Supt Mohan Singh confirmed the police report.

He said Chuan Beng and Teh were released on police bail 17 hours after their arrest.

The case would be referred to the deputy pu-blic prosecution’s office, he added.