Motorists who are flagged down by plainclothes police officers in the middle of the night, at a lonely spot or in the wee hours of the morning have the right not to stop, a high ranking police officer told malaysiakini today.

"If you feel something is not right, then you don't have to stop. But, you must drive to the nearest police station and lodge a report," said Senior Assistant Commissioner Dell Akbar Hyder Khan.

Dell was commenting on the alleged gang-rape of an 18-year-old university student by four men claiming to be police officers on New Year's eve. The girl said that her car was stopped in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail in Kuala Lumpur and were asked by the men to open the car bonnet.

She was then told that she had committed an offence and ordered to follow the men to a police station. The girl was driven in her car along the North-South expressway to the Tapah-Cameron Highlands road before she was raped in an oil palm estate.

This incident, and many others, have sparked confusion over the procedures which motorists must follow when flagged down by the police.

Dell nevertheless insisted that plainclothes police officers who produced their authority cards have the right to stop motorists on the road.

"A plainclothes police officer has the authority because his power comes from the appointment and rank that he holds within the force and not his uniform. You can verify if he is a true police officer by calling the relevant police station," he said.

Lawyer and human rights activist Sivarasa Rasiah agreed.

"If a plainclothes police officer stops a person on the street and shows an police ID card, he has authority to stop the person, ask for identification or even arrest the person, that is, he has all the authority of a uniformed police officer," he said.

However, he said for motorists to stop for plainclothes police officers would pose a risk. "If I stop the car and they turned out to be bogus officers, they can do anything to me before I could drive off."

He also questioned the relevance of deploying a group of non-uniformed police officers on the road or highway.

"Plainclothes policemen have no business trying to wave down motorists or motorcylists on roads and highways, therefore, motorists should not stop if they feel suspicious," he said..

"Police officer trying to stop motorists or motorcylists on roads ought to be wearing uniforms, otherwise they are risking being run over!" he added. "They cannot be holding out their ID cards and expect motorists, who are driving past, to identify it."

However, Dell said motorists flagged down by uniformed police officers should stop even if it is in the middle of the night. "But if you are worried for your safety and drive past, they have the right to give chase and effect an arrest," he said.

In those cases, he said the motorists could always explain their reason for not stopping. He added that motorists who were told to follow police officers to the station had the right to question if they had committed any offence under the law.

"However, when you are told to go to the station, it doesn't necessary mean you are under arrest. You could be called to assist in our investigation. Of course, you can refuse to help or offer to go to the station at another time," he said.

Sivarasa told malaysiakini on Tuesday that a person had the right not to go with police to the station if he or she was not under arrest.