KUCHING: Two men aged 22 and 38 were arrested and detained yesterday afternoon for carrying offensive weapons when making a citizen’s arrest recently. A hammer and an iron rod were seized from them. Sarawak deputy Police Commissioner, Datuk Dev Kumar clarified that the two were not carrying machete as alleged by some people. He urged members of the public not to develop a mob mentality when making a citizen’s arrest as any serious injuries on the suspects would cause problems to all parties concerned.
Dev said a video clip of the arrest went viral showing a group of people making a citizen’s arrest on a 63-year -old con-man and his accomplice in Batu Kawa on Tuesday afternoon with many making racial remarks when the actual situation was not a race issue. This prompted Malaysia’s top cop to come out and denied that there was anything racial about the arrest.
“Although the law allows citizen’s arrest, the arrest must be within the confines of the law.
Those making a citizen’s arrest must hand over the person arrested to the police immediately. They cannot use force or cause injuries to the suspect. Neither are they allowed to carry weapons and intimidate the suspects,” Dev said.
He added that police would not hesitate to take action against any civilian who broke the law when making a citizen’s arrest. Dev also warned that while making a citizen’s arrest can cause injuries to the people who were doing the arrest.
The duo was arrested after they turned up at Padawan police station with 10 others including two females who claimed they were at the scene during the citizen’s arrest. Dev said the case was being investigated as a criminal offense under section 506 of the Penal Code and section 6 (1) of the Hazardous Materials, Explosives and Dangerous Weapons Act 1958. Both suspects will be remanded to facilitate investigations.
