Assault caught on CCTV, police forced to act

The district police have broken their silence and promised a transparent investigation.

KENINGAU: The Keningau district police have been forced to break their silence on an assault case because the whole incident was caught on closed circuit television.

In the incident which occurred close to midnight on April 30, Ben Cheah Ping Xen, 23, sustained multiple injuries all over his body as the result of the assault which was captured on a shop’s closed-circuit TV.


The CCTV video footage showed a senior prison officer and his three accomplices punching, kicking and beating Cheah with a baton, belt and a plastic stool.

Keningau is in Sabah’s interior and some 180 km from Kota Kinabalu with a population of some 150,000 people.

Already people in this small town are talking about the high handed action of the government official and the apparent police silence.

Now the Sabah Gerakan has stepped into the fray and the Keningau district police have assured the public of a thorough and transparent investigation into the alleged assault.

Keningau OCPD Supt Zahari Mohamad gave this assurance to Gerakan’s Sabah chairman, Gordon Leong .Leong and his delegation had called on Zahari after earlier visiting Cheah.

“We felt that such a visit to the OCPD was necessary as, we could feel for Ben’s and his family’s distress, pain, anxiety and more importantly their feeling of helplessness, as a result of the assault,” said Leong.

Leong said Sabah Gerakan was appalled and sad that there are still those who preferred to take matters into their own hands in a modern and civilised society.

“No one should take the law into their own hands or see themselves as above the law, more so law enforcement officers who are supposed to protect the public,” he said.

Uncalled for behaviour



The alleged assault incident which involved a senior government official, he said, must be viewed seriously as it is now of concern to the general public.

“If not addressed it could be misinterpreted by the general public and be exploited by political parties.

“This type of uncalled for behavior gives a bad name to the government and Gerakan believes and is confident that the relevant authorities will look into this matter seriously.

Earlier Cheah’s father Cheah You Hock demanded an investigation into the brutal beating of his son.

Queville To