KUALA LUMPUR – Police have identified the suspects involved in the recent brawl between two groups of football supporters at the Bandar Tasik Selatan LRT Station and plan to make arrests within the next 48 hours.
Cheras district police chief Assistant Commissioner Aidil Bolhassan told Scoop that the suspects, numbering between 20 and 30 individuals, were identified through CCTV footage from the LRT stations, trains, and the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
“We have identified the suspects and will be arresting and interrogating them in the next couple of days. It took some time due to the large crowd that attended the game,” Aidil explained when contacted.
“We also received valuable assistance and information from Prasarana, which helped expedite the investigation. The suspects will be investigated under Section 147/427 of the Penal Code for rioting, causing injury, and mischief to property.”
Aidil also thanked the Malaysian Stadium Corporation for its full support during the investigation, as well as the eyewitnesses who came forward to file police reports.
In a statement issued yesterday, Prasarana confirmed that a police report had been lodged regarding the incident and called on the authorities to take appropriate action against those involved.
The report was filed at the Sungai Besi Police Station, and Prasarana reaffirmed its commitment to fully cooperate with the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) for a thorough investigation.
The clash, which occurred on December 21 around midnight on the Ampang-Sri Petaling line, resulted in damage to station facilities, including the doors and windows of a train on the platform. However, no injuries were reported.
Prasarana’s auxiliary police intervened to break up the fight and escorted the rival groups of supporters out of the Bandar Tasik Selatan station to prevent further escalation.
Meanwhile, Aidil stated that the Cheras police force would increase the number of officers deployed to LRT stations in the Cheras area during football matches involving the national team to prevent such incidents in the future.
“We did not deploy any police personnel to the Bandar Tasik Selatan LRT Station; crowd control at the station was managed by Prasarana’s auxiliary police. This incident was not due to any failure on our part.
“However, we will take incidents like this very seriously and work closely with the Kuala Lumpur police contingent for future national team football matches. We will deploy more officers to LRT stations in the vicinity of Cheras to ensure this does not happen again,” Aidil added.
A total of 31,127 fans from both sides attended the December 20 match between Malaysia and Singapore, dubbed the Causeway Derby, at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
The match ended in a goalless draw, with Singapore qualifying for the Asean Cup semi-finals as one of the top two teams in Group A. — December 22, 2024