‘F.R.U. ONLY TOLD TO BE ON STANDBY’
Witness says FRU did not receive order to quell rioting
AMEMBER of the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) told the coroner’s court that his team could only stand idle on the night of the rioting near the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Subang Jaya last year because it failed to receive instructions from its top brass.
FRU 1A Unit Commander Assistant Superintendent Shuhaimi Yaakub, who was involved in the operation on Nov 27, said the only order they received was to “standby”.
“There were two troops despatched to the scene on the night of the incident comprising five officers and 113 personnel.
“I contacted the district operation centre to get Deputy Superintendent Mohamad Nasir Drahman’s number as he was the field officer, but he did not give any order.
“We did not receive any briefing or any specific order as we were there just to assist the district police,” Shuhaimi said when answering a question from deputy public prosecutor Hamdan Hamzah.
He was the 21st witness in the inquest into the death of fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.
He explained that according to FRU’s standard operating procedure (SOP), they could only take action after being instructed by the officer in charge of the police district (OCPD) or any senior officer present at the scene.
“Our action is based on the Public Order Manual, which states that we need to report ourselves to the respective OCPD or his representative at the scene (field officer).”
Shuhaimi, 39, said the other FRU commanding officer, known as Superintendent Jefri, from Troop 4B who was at the scene failed to contact Subang Jaya OCPD Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Azlin Sadari.
“He (Jefri) managed to contact Azlin’s deputy, but he told us to be on standby. Jefri was in contact with our commander, who said he needed to refer to instructions from the OCPD.”
Shuhaimi said he called the police field officer, Nasir, when he arrived at the scene at 11pm.
He said Nasir told them to be on standby.
Shuhaimi said he had heard through the walkie-talkie that Nasir and Azlin contacted the operation centre, but he did not know of any report of firemen being attacked by the mob.
Earlier, Shuhaimi told the coroner’s court that he saw the Fire Rescue Tender (FRT) truck and Emergency Medical Response Service (EMRS) van arriving at the scene to put out a fire.
“I saw a group of people march towards them (firemen) before the vehicles reversed and disappeared from my view.
“I ordered my men to get ready and revved-up our vehicles as soon as I saw the incident (fire trucks retreating).
“However, as per discussion with Jefri, he said our order was only to be on standby and I did not see what actually happened to the firemen.”
Shuhaimi disagreed with a suggestion from the counsel representing Adib’s family, Yahaya Othman, who suggested that the incompetence of FRU had led to Adib’s death.
“We can only deploy or intervene in the situation with an order from the OCPD, his deputy, and field officer,” Shuhaimi said.
Yahaya concluded his questioning by stating that he was disgruntled with the FRU for failing to respond during the incident.
Shuhaimi said he only saw OCPD Azlin and Selangor officerin-charge of Criminal Investigations at the scene at 3.30am.
The proceedings became tense as Shuhaimi was bombarded with provocative questions from both counsels representing Adib’s family and the Fire and Rescue Department.
Syazlin Mansor, who represented the department, Housing and Local Government Ministry and Yahaya had questioned him on the decision by FRU at the scene for not trying to intervene or prevent the riot from continuing to escalate.
Yahaya questioned whether the FRU had taken any initiative to stop the mob according to Police Act 1967 rather than following its (FRU) commanding officer.
Syazlin had argued whether the FRU would take any action if its own personnel were attacked by the mob.
Syazlin: I am putting it to you, if your own troops are under attack by the mob, the FRU personnel will stay in their vehicles and do nothing?
Shuhaimi: I do not agree. We will take necessary action according to our SOP... We were bound by order from the OCPD and our order was only to be on standby.
It was claimed that Adib, 24, died from severe injuries sustained after he was allegedly assaulted by rioters at the temple.
He was part of an emergency response team despatched to the scene to douse a vehicle, which had been torched.
Despite showing signs of recovery while being treated at the National Heart Institute, Adib died on Dec 17.