Cops: Policeman assisted in arrest of Bersih firecracker suspect

KUALA LUMPUR: A man accused of bearing a police identity card after he was caught for throwing firecrackers at Bersih protestors on Sunday was actually a policeman helping to detain the actual perpetrator.

"The policeman was identifying himself to the protesters by showing his police ID card," KL CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Zainuddin Ahmad said when contacted.

Bersih 2.0 steering committee member Thomas Fann earlier claimed that a man suspected of hurling firecrackers at protestors along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman near the Swiss Hotel Sunday night had a police identification card on him.

Fann claimed that when Bersih security personnel were lodging a police report, an officer receiving it checked for the suspect's identification and unlocked his handcuffs after finding his police identification card.

"The officer also told them not to put in the suspect's name and police identification card into their police report," he said.

SAC Zainuddin also confirmed that police detained three men for using firecrackers on Sunday and that they would be released on bail Monday evening.