Datuk, man remanded over assault

PETALING JAYA: The Datuk and another suspect allegedly involved in an assault at a hotpot restaurant here have been remanded for two days.

In another turn of events, the victim has been identified as the son of another Datuk.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal said both suspects would be remanded until today to facilitate further investigations.

The media had camped at the Petaling Jaya court complex yesterday to follow up on the duo’s remand.

After both suspects were brought out, their lawyer Datuk Suraj Singh said the case was being investigated under sections 323 and 506 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation.

“I can only confirm that I am representing both men and they will be remanded until tomorrow (today), ” he said.

Perak Chinese Assembly Hall deputy president Datuk Kwan Foh Kwai has confirmed that his son was one of the two people slapped in the incident.

According to Sin Chew Daily, Kwan has described the incident as regrettable.

“We lodged a police report on the same night.

“I am not going to deny it was my son because I do not wish to see unfair posts about him being circulated online, ” he said.

Asked about his son’s injuries, Kwan, who is also former president of Master Builders Association Malaysia, refused to divulge much, only saying that he would let

the police investigate the matter.

He added that for now, there was no plan to initiate legal action.

On Tuesday, an argument broke out at the hotpot restaurant in Tropicana Avenue, hours before the movement control order took effect from Wednesday.

The incident sparked outrage among Malaysians after two video clips, one running 29 seconds and the other 51 seconds, went viral.

According to the initial police report, a waitress was slapped as well but Chinese vernacular newspapers reported that it was the victim’s girlfriend who got slapped.

ACP Nik Ezanee had said the incident started after the suspects were told off for talking too loudly in the restaurant.

Both suspects were inebriated, he added.

In the 29-second video, the two men can be seen slapping an unidentified victim, presumably the complainant, while gesturing aggressively at him.

One of them also slapped a woman as they were about to leave the restaurant.

The longer video shows one of the suspects being held back by another person as he aggressively tried to slap a man wearing a blue T-shirt.

However, as he was being pacified, he knocked down a chair before slapping a woman.

This led to another heated argument with the man who was threatened earlier by one of the suspects.

The second suspect then approached the man, tried to hit him with his hand and cornered him against a wall.