KUALA LUMPUR: The ruckus which broke out between thugs and sales clerks at a smartphone shop in a shopping mall here was not racial in nature, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
In a Twitter post last night, he said some suspects had been detained and efforts were being made to trace the others.
He also said the situation had been brought under control and police had intensified patrols at the place and its surrounding areas.
“Do not listen to rumours. The police will take action against those involved.
“This is nothing to do with race. Only two groups fighting,” his tweet said.
On Saturday, a fight erupted between the thugs and sales assistants after a group of youths came to the shop located in Low Yat Plaza to take revenge against the retailers who allegedly caught one of them shoplifting earlier.
Some commentators on social media claimed the brawl was due to one of the youths being sold a fake phone, but this has not been verified.
Yesterday, a group of about 100 people gathered at the plaza at 6.30pm in an apparent continuation of Saturday’s fiasco.
The group had gathered to protest what they claimed was “biased investigations” by the police.
“We want to get proper justice,” said a member of the group who identified himself as an “Ayahanda” in the national Pekida level.
Police, who were already on standby in front of the shopping mall by then, arrested a man charging out of the complex carrying a stick.
The mall was cordoned off by police at about 9pm. The situation subsided and the crowd dispersed an hour later.
Kuala Lumpur CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Zainuddin Ahmad said four people, including a 22-year-old man believed to be one of the thugs, were detained.
Police are also believed to be searching for four others said to have caused damage amounting to around RM70,000 at the handphone shop.
MCA Youth chief Chong Sin Woon said the public should stop spreading videos of the scuffle that could cause racial tension and spread hatred among the people.
He said there were videos from several perspectives and that the people should not pass judgment and post comments over the incident, especially if they were not at the scene at the time of the incident.
“The police need to act fast and charge those involved,” he said after opening the Perak MCA Youth annual general meeting on yesterday.
“I urge all leaders of the respective communities to calm things down,” he added.
At about midnight, a group of men attacked several members of the media who were covering the incident.
Five people were injured, including two reporters and a photographer.
The injured were treated by paramedics before being sent to the KL Hospital.
At press time, a Federal Reserve Unit team in two trucks had been deployed to the scene to control the situation.
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