The police today dismissed an allegation by a group of journalists that a senior police officer in Kedah had used harsh words against them, including calling them ' anjing ' (dogs).

State CID chief ACP Mohd Zakaria Ahmad said the matter was nothing more than a misunderstanding.

He said the officer, an assistant superintendent of police, did not mean to use harsh words on the journalists. It was misinterpreted, he added.

"Following an internal probe on the officer, we found that it was only the media's perception (that they were verbally abused)," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Mohd Zakaria, who did not elaborate on the 'misunderstanding', also extended an apology to the journalists and expressed hope that the issue will not be prolonged.

"I hope this matter will not be disputed further since we have already provided an explanation. We (the police) have no intention of belittling journalists," he said.

Police report

Yesterday, 15 journalists filed a report with the Tawau police station claiming that the police officer had verbally abused them when covering the discovery of two bodies in an oil palm plantation in Baling.

In his report, ntv7 part-time cameraman Muhammad Ridzuan Osman, 21, claimed that the police officer had chased the journalists away from the scene and called them "anjing" (dog).

The police officer was also heard to have ordered his men to release a dog from the K9 Unit to allegedly chase the journalists away.

The incident happened after Kedah CID chief ACP Mohd Zakaria Ahmad held a press conference at the plantation.

The journalists, who were there since 8am, were not allowed to take pictures even though they were outside the police cordon.

When the photographers and journalists were about to take pictures of the bodies being carried into a police vehicle, the ASP allegedly shouted " Jangan masuk, anjing !" (Don't enter, dogs!) and " Lepaskan anjing !" (Release the dog!).