Police quiz news anchor over 'rude cop' letter

Police hauled up a news anchor last night for questioning over a letter he wrote accusing a police officer of rude conduct.

According to the New Straits Times, a police patrol car was sent to the man’s house and officers told him to be at the SS17 police station in Subang Jaya, Selangor, to provide his statement.

“The complainant showed up at the police station at around 10.50pm to provide his statement as requested,” read the report published late last night.

While the news report did not name the individual, Malaysiakini established that it was Muhammed Ahmad Hamdan.

It was not ascertained how many hours he spent at the police station.

The Subang Jaya district police headquarters, in a brief reply to the media, confirmed that investigators recorded the news presenter’s statement yesterday.

According to a spokesperson, Muhammed was among five individuals summoned to give statements over the case.

It was reported that police opened an investigation against the news anchor over a letter he wrote that was published in the New Straits Times four days ago.

In his letter, Muhammed spoke about the alleged patrol officer’s behaviour outside his house in Subang Jaya.

He had arrived home at about 1am after presenting the Tuesday midnight news and was unwinding in his car - parked in front of his house - when two officers on motorcycles approached him.

Despite complying with the officers’ request to furnish them with his MyKad, things got heated when one of the officers asked Muhammed to step out of his car and refused to explain why.

“One of them exhibited rude, arrogant, and unprofessional behaviour, which left me disappointed,” he wrote, adding that the other officer tried to defuse the situation.

Muhammed did not reveal the identity or provide a description of both officers.

‘Untrue and damaging’

In response to the letter, the officer lodged a police report against Muhammed.

Bernama quoted Subang Jaya district police chief Wan Azlan Wan Mamat as saying that the officer involved found the article untrue and damaging to the image of the police.

He said Muhammed was being investigated under Section 504 of the Penal Code for intentional insult, which carries a punishment of up to two years in jail.

On top of this, police are investigating Muhammed under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which covers misuse of network facilities.

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