Thugs posing as police break up Orang Asli blockade in interior of Kelantan

The blockade organised by the orang asli community before the incident occurred.

GUA MUSANG: A group of thugs claiming to be police men allegedly tore down a blockade set up by an orang asli group on a logging trail between Pos Tohoi and Pos Simpor, located approximately two and a half hours from Gua Musang town.

News of the incident was first reported in a post on lawyer and activist Siti Kasim's Facebook page on Wednesday.

Three orang asli activists were also believed to have been 'arrested' by the culprits and put into civilian vehicles but were eventually released later.

There were apparently no police vehicles present during the incident that happened on Wednesday.

The men claiming to be police then allegedly cut through the barricade with chainsaws.

"Report from inside. Three arrested now.  They cut the blockade with chainsaw.  I am going to the police station to lodge police report," said Siti.

The blockade, which was set up on Monday, was part of an initiative by the orang asli community to prevent loggers from going in and out of what the local villagers claim is part of their ancestral land.

Their goal was to drive the loggers out and prevent further deforestation of their land.

The loggers, however, are technically operating legally as they had been granted logging licenses by the Kelantan Forestry Department.

The orang asli group, on the other hand, claim that they had not been engaged by the authorities before the issuance of these licenses, as is stipulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Malaysia is a signatory of.