Consumer rights NGO Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) has questioned why none of the Kota Raya traders who allegedly cheated their customers have been arrested.

Instead, PPIM chief activist Nadzim Johan said, his fellow activist Muhammad Yusuf Azmi was the one arrested for trying to help the victims.

"I want to ask the police: why is it that the one arrested was someone who was trying to help?

"This is a very weird thing that shouldn't have happened," Nadzim said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said the Kota Raya traders seemed to have some sort of invincibility, since none of them has been arrested in relation to the allegation of cheating and locking up a customer .

There is a plot behind this lack of arrests, he believes. "I really believe it. It's true. But at which level I don't know," Nadzim said.

Yusuf, who is PPIM's special action unit chief, said they have all given their statements to the police and yet no Kota Raya trader has been arrested.

"I want to ask the inspector-general of police, why is it that until now not a single person (Kota Raya trader) has been arrested?

"We have all given our statements," Yusuf said.

Yusuf was initially called to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters on Dec 24 to give his statement on the Kota Raya brawl earlier last week.

After he gave his statement, he was arrested under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation.

Seven-day demand request rejected

The police requested a seven-day remand, Yusuf said, adding that he was also told that seven-day remands are usually reserved for those charged with serious crimes.

The judge, however, rejected that request.

Yusuf ( photo ) said he was at the Kota Raya complex to accompany a dissatisfied customer who had got a refund order from the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry.

He insisted he remained civilised when dealing with the Kota Raya traders and managed to help several of the dissatisfied customers get a total refund of RM11,900 in return for 12 mobile phones.

PPIM's YouTube account has video evidence of his dealings with the traders, he said, and that the police have also watched the video.

"You can refer to the video. I wasn't aggressive or harsh. There was no racial issue either," Yusuf said.

Insisting that the Kota Raya issue is not related to race but to consumer rights, he said people of all races are cheated by the traders at Kota Raya.

A brawl occurred at Kota Raya on Dec 20, when a group of dissatisfied customers and Yusuf went to seek refunds from the trader who allegedly cheated them.

The fight ended with two injured and property damaged.

However, PPIM has insisted that it was a separate group, unrelated to it, that initiated the fight.