Car rental company lodges police report over ‘hijacked limo ride’
BY R.S.N. MURALI
THE STAR
Stretched too thin: The limousine with Hello Kitty stickers on its sides ferrying Rajinikanth to Malacca.
MALACCA: Tamil actor Rajinikanth is in town for the shooting of his mob-thrillerKabali and things got hot the moment he arrived – especially for a 25-year-old limousine driver.
The driver of the Petaling Jaya-based car rental company had been asked to chauffeur the Indian superstar to a hotel in Kuala Lumpur at about 4pm on Monday.
A company spokesman said they had sent a stretch limousine adorned with “Hello Kitty” stickers, for use by the actor from 4pm to 6pm.
But, the actor only arrived at KLIA at 6pm and the driver told the movie star’s local representatives that he had to rush to pick up another VIP for the opening of a restaurant in Selangor.
The local representatives then confiscated the driver’s handphone and forced him to drive to Malacca, the spokesman said.
The terrified driver just obeyed the instructions.
“We tried to contact our driver but his handphone went unanswered. We were desperate as the other event was at 6pm the same day,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman added that the driver called them only upon reaching Malacca at 8.20pm.
“Our company is facing flak from the second client just because of the breach.”
The company lodged a police report at the Brickfields district police headquarters on Tuesday.
State Private Affairs, Human Resources and NGO Affairs Committee chairman Datuk M.S. Mahadevan, who has been appointed by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron to facilitate the filming, also said he had a bad experience with the local representatives.
Mahadevan claimed that a group of 20 men wearing T-shirts claiming to be bodyguards of the actor had roughed up state dignitaries and media personnel during the courtesy call by the “superstar” on Malacca Governor Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob on Tuesday.
Those who were at the Governor’s office were all invited but Mahadevan said they were aggressively shoved aside by the “untrained bodyguards”.
Mahadevan later called the local organisers, and was told Rajinikanth himself had asked the bodyguards not to escort him.
Stretched too thin: The limousine with Hello Kitty stickers on its sides ferrying Rajinikanth to Malacca.
MALACCA: Tamil actor Rajinikanth is in town for the shooting of his mob-thrillerKabali and things got hot the moment he arrived – especially for a 25-year-old limousine driver.
The driver of the Petaling Jaya-based car rental company had been asked to chauffeur the Indian superstar to a hotel in Kuala Lumpur at about 4pm on Monday.
A company spokesman said they had sent a stretch limousine adorned with “Hello Kitty” stickers, for use by the actor from 4pm to 6pm.
But, the actor only arrived at KLIA at 6pm and the driver told the movie star’s local representatives that he had to rush to pick up another VIP for the opening of a restaurant in Selangor.
The local representatives then confiscated the driver’s handphone and forced him to drive to Malacca, the spokesman said.
The terrified driver just obeyed the instructions.
“We tried to contact our driver but his handphone went unanswered. We were desperate as the other event was at 6pm the same day,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman added that the driver called them only upon reaching Malacca at 8.20pm.
“Our company is facing flak from the second client just because of the breach.”
The company lodged a police report at the Brickfields district police headquarters on Tuesday.
State Private Affairs, Human Resources and NGO Affairs Committee chairman Datuk M.S. Mahadevan, who has been appointed by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron to facilitate the filming, also said he had a bad experience with the local representatives.
Mahadevan claimed that a group of 20 men wearing T-shirts claiming to be bodyguards of the actor had roughed up state dignitaries and media personnel during the courtesy call by the “superstar” on Malacca Governor Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob on Tuesday.
Those who were at the Governor’s office were all invited but Mahadevan said they were aggressively shoved aside by the “untrained bodyguards”.
Mahadevan later called the local organisers, and was told Rajinikanth himself had asked the bodyguards not to escort him.
