Police searched a house rented by anti-estalishment student group Universiti Malaya New Youth (Umany) today in connection with the pig head found in the UM surau yesterday.

The search, conducted from 2am to 4am, was targeted at ‘Rumah Universiti’ which is also election headquarters of the predominantly Chinese Umany.

Umany is an ally of Persatuan Mahasiswa Islam (Islamic Students Association), the target of yesterday's 'pig head' incident.

When confronted by the team of police officers, one of the students demanded to see the search warrant.

pig head carcass in universiti malaya um mosque surau 160109 09 When the inspector leading the police team told the students that police have the right to proceed without a warrant under Section 295 (defiling a place of worship) of the Penal Code, they (students) decided to lodge a police report on the matter.

As they attempted to leave the UM grounds, they were stopped by security personnel at the gates. They were informed that they were prohibited from leaving campus although they had clearly indicated their intention to lodge a report at the police station.

The students also claimed that one of the security personnel, Mohd Amirul, even tried to provoke student Yap Zhen Jun to start a fight with him.

Report against guard instead

However, after they eventually managed to leave campus and arrived at the Brickfields police station, the students were told that they cannot file a report against the search of the house as the police inspector had already filed a report against them.

The station also informed them that a police inspector has the right to search their premises without a warrant under Section 295 of the Penal Code.

The students later lodged a report against the security guard whom they claimed had tried to use force on them, stating that it was absurd for the guard to fight with them when they should be providing security to all students in campus.

Contacted later, Yap commented that the police were “over reacting” by sending 30 personnel against three "defenseless" student.

Asked on the “pig head in the surau”, Yap stressed that Umany has nothing to do with it.

“We believe that justice is on the side of the innocent,” he said.