KEPONG – A hawker who accused police of extorting RM500 from him on June 2 has retracted his statement, saying the incident never happened.
Lim Thiam Fook, 21, previously said that three police officers harassed him when they discovered that he didn’t have an approval letter from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to operate his stall.
He also alleged that they dumped a pot of soup to the ground in attempt to search for drugs.
In a press conference today, Lim said that he decided to retract his statement as he was unable to bear the stress of travelling back and forth to the police station and was unsure whether the police officers were legit or not.
“While I understand the consequences of lodging a fake police report, I can’t continue anymore.”
He also said that he was prepared to cooperate with authorities if they were to take action against him.
Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, who was also present, publicly apologised for misleading the police and members of the media.
“Not only did he deceive me with his story, but also the police and the media. Therefore, I would like to apologise to everyone over this matter.”
Lim added that although he had warned the younger Lim of the severe repercussions of withdrawing his statement, the latter insisted on doing so to put the matter behind him.
Sources: RojakLah!, Cover image via DAP Kepong Action Team
Editor: Raymond Chen
