Failure to settle outstanding salary led to a fight in Sepanggar

KOTA KINABALU - Failure to settle the payment of an outstanding salary of RM10,000 led to a fight between two groups in front of a seafood factory in Sepanggar, last Thursday.

The incident was captured in a one minute and 33 seconds video which went viral on social media on Sunday.

Kota Kinabalu district police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Zaidi Abdullah said investigations found that the incident occurred at 12.15pm on Thursday.

"In the incident, there were four men blocking the entrance to the factory with a Perodua Bezza car.

"The group of men in the incident were there to meet the factory operator who was said to have failed to settle a debt of RM10,000 to one of the men.

“A friend of the factory operator had asked the group of men to move the car but the they ignored him before he threw a fire extinguisher at the car causing the window of the front passenger’s side to break," he said in a statement on Monday.

Mohd Zaidi added that the group of men subsequently attacked the factory operator and his friend.

"They punched and hit the factory operator and his friend using an iron chain and one of the men also took a machete and tried to attack but the leader of the group had prevented him to do so.

"As a result of the incident, the factory operator sustained a slight injury on his left ear and bruises on his body while his friend sustained a back injury and received five stitches at the Manggatal health centre," he said.

Following the incident, Mohd Zaidi said police opened an investigation paper under Section 148 of the Penal Code for rioting and Section 324 of the same code for voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapon.

The 47-year-old group leader and his 53-year-old employee were arrested and the iron chain used to attack the victim and the Perodua Bezza car were also seized.

"Police are also tracking down two other men involved in the case. Those with information could contact investigating officer Inspector S.Vermal at 010-2314432," he said.

Mohd Zaidi also confirmed that the incident did not involve any elements of secret society and it was caused by the dissatisfaction of former employees and employers where they still failed to settle the outstanding salary.

He also advised people to take action through the existing legal channels in the event of financial or debt problems.