KOTA KINABALU – Sabah police have denied accusations of bias in their handling of a bloody brawl that resulted in the death of a man in Beaufort last Friday.
State Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali assured that the actions of his officers were within the limits of the law and that the police force is professional in its conduct.
He said this following the circulation over social media of a photo showing several policemen with two suspects involved in the fight last week, suggesting that the force was in cahoots with them.
Albert Requel Agang, hailed as a Murut native chief, died today from injuries sustained in the fight.
The main suspects are identified as Hobalan Vello @ Jimmy Black and Kesavan Perembalan – who allegedly had links with organised gangs.
Hazani said the police had so far detained six men, including a friend of the main suspects.
A manhunt is on to capture the two suspects in the case, said Hazani.
He added that Sabah police are now working closely with their Sarawak counterparts to wrap up the investigation.
“There are no organised crime groups in Sabah as alleged, and the state only has a bunch of aggressive and delinquent youth groups,” he said.
“I wish to stress again that this case does not have racial and gangster elements. We urge no one to use this incident to start racial tensions.
“This is not an armed gang attack against the victims. Instead, from our investigation, the case involved a group of men who were already intoxicated after attending a wedding at the Sabah Railway Department staff quarters in Beaufort, not far from the MyHeaven Restaurant where the brawl took place,” he said.
After police recorded all their statements, it was clear the brawl was started by the group, he said.
“They have also admitted to having gone together to the suspect’s restaurant and created trouble by breaking the chairs and tables in the joint,” he added.
Hazani said the group of men were unhappy with the owner of the restaurant who is the main suspect when they tried to purchase more alcoholic beverages at the suspect’s joint.
The suspect was said to be unhappy with their presence in his joint, said Hazani based on the admission of the main suspect’s friend who had run to the police station to alert the officers on the night of the incident.
“They were acting like crazy and were disrupting the suspect’s business. They were already acting as such the moment they came out from their vehicle and heading towards his restaurant.
“They also picked a fight with a diner at the entrance before coming in to buy more alcoholic beverages,” he said.
Hazani also denied that Hobalan is still under police surveillance, saying that he was cleared in 2008 and that he had since married a local Dusun woman from Keningau and they had five children.
“There had been no new cases opened against Hobalan since 2008 until the date of incident,” he said.
The police are investigating the case under Section 148 and 302 of the Penal Code for armed rioting resulting in death.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan had earlier pleaded for the public to remain calm following Agang’s death. – The Vibes, December 22, 2020
