Eight teens arrested for rioting over handphone reload

KOTA KINABALU: Police have arrested eight teenagers, including three students who were involved in a brawl outside a coffee shop in Beaufort about 100km from here.

The fight was apparently triggered over the unhappiness of an 18-year-old who wanted to know why one of the suspects, a 15-year-old student, contacted his sister for a handphone reload.

Beaufort police chief Deputy Supt Azmir Abd Razak said the older teen brought along two other relatives, while the younger one brought along four other relatives to meet up outside a coffee shop in Beaufort at 5pm on Saturday (April 6).

DSP Azmir said that the 18 year-old suspect was unhappy over the
student’s call to his sister to top up his handphone. They both agreed to meet at the coffee shop and discuss the matter.

However, it ended with the two groups fighting each other and police turned up and arrested all off them.

He said that all suspects, aged between 14 and 19, were detained for their statements to be recorded.

“It had nothing to do with any gang involvement,” he said, adding that they were being investigated for rioting.