Sabah cops nab two Pakistanis after brawling photos spread on Facebook

KOTA KINABALU - Two Pakistani men were arrested today after photos purportedly proving they were involved in a fight with a Sabahan at a petrol station here were disseminated on social media.

The incident has since reawakened debate on the social impact on Sabah as a result of growing influx of Pakistanis into the state.

According to city police chief assistant commissioner M. Chandra, the incident on July 15 started after a local man chided one of the two Pakistanis for using his handphone while filling up his motorcycle at a Shell petrol station along Jalan Kepayan about 1pm.

“The suspects, were who were on a Honda EX5 motorbike, got agitated and a fight broke out, with one of the suspects punching the complainant.

“The fight was stopped by other members of the public at the scene, but the complainant had suffered minor wounds and aches on his body,” said Chandra.

Police arrested two Pakistanis, a 23-year-old shop assistant and a businessman, 24, at 1.30am today at a shoplot in Kampung Petagas, Putatan near here.

They are being investigated under Section 324 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt.

A photo of the incident was said to have been posted on the Facebook page of a group dubbing itself “Negara Sabah” on Sunday with the title Orang tempatan ditumbuk oleh Warga Pakistan (Locals punched by Pakistanis).

According to the account on the Facebook page, the Pakistanis had been hogging a pump at the petrol station and got angry after they were asked to depart so that others could refuel.

The page administration had listed the registration number of the motorcycle and urged locals to “look out” for the vehicle on the road.

Responses from Facebook users were varied with some commentators posting angry messages describing the foreigners as arrogant and brazenly uncouth while in another country; others advocated calm and urged their fellow Malaysians not to turn the incident into a racial issue.

The Facebook page is no longer accessible to the public.

The presence of Pakistani immigrants appears to be a sore point in Sabah.

In March, the Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum raised concern on their large numbers and called on the authorities to run a check on the documents held by every Pakistani in the state.

Local newspaper Daily Express reported Malanjum saying some of the Pakistanis might be involved in human trafficking and questioned if there was a syndicate bringing them to Sabah or if there was a manipulation in the immigration system.

“Don’t come to Sabah if you do not have valid documents, tell your fellows or write a letter about this. Tell them that Sabah is neraka (hell),” the senior judge reported said then during a court proceeding to revise a sentence on five Pakistanis for using visas and social visit passes obtained with false particulars.