A senior police officer told a Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) inquiry today that he did not kick the car of a reformasi supporter as the latter had alleged.

"I did not give Monashofian's car a flying kick. Maybe because I was trying to get him to get out of the car, when I opened the door and knocked on his car, it made him think I was kicking his car," said ASP Shamsudin Mat, who was one of the police personnel deployed to the Keadilan-sponsored 100 People's Gathering on Nov 5 last year.

Shamsudin, an officer in charge of public order and traffic at the Klang district police headquarters, is testifying in the ongoing inquiry into allegations of police brutality during the rally.

The three-member panel of inquiry heard on Dec 11 last year the testimony of Monashofian Zulkarnain Putra that Shamsudin and other police officers had damaged his car.

Monashofian said that a group of uniformed police personnel had smashed the windscreen of his car and kicked its door. He named among them DSP Bahwandi Hiralal.

Bahwandi testified before the panel on Feb 26 and had also refuted claims by Monashofian that he had in any way damaged the latter's car. ([#1]Cop denies smashing windscreen at Kesas gathering[/#], Feb 26)

Monashofian alleged, "ASP Shamsudin kicked my (car) door until it was dented and Bahwandi dented my car bonnet."

He said that his car was then towed away with him still inside and he was taken to the Port Klang police station where he was detained for five days.

'Ringleader'

Earlier, Shamsudin said that Monashofian was the ringleader of a group of people.

"I observed Monashofian acting as a leader. Each word he uttered will immediately be parroted by his followers and he was also shouting 'Bunuh Mahathir' (kill Mahathir).

"Even though warnings had been given, they did not show signs of wanting to disperse and they even shouted Allahu Akhbar (God is great) in repsonse to someone shouting takbir," he added.

Shamsudin also told the inquiry that Monashofian who disappeared when an FRU truck was firing its water cannon later reappeared again and locked himself inside his car, a black Citroen.

"Here I saw Monashofian, together with a woman and another man, jumping into his car and then recklessly driving his car towards DSP Bahwandi as if to bang him down, but his action had caused the car to block the highway.

"Then he locked his car door leaving only a small opening in his window and shouted at my colleague ASP Amidon Anan 'I'll challenge you in court'," Shamsudin said.

He added that when efforts to open Monashofian's car door failed, the latter "smiled cynically".

'Doing out duty'

Later, the inquiry heard from another witness, ASP Amidon Anan, an officer at the Selangor Police Contingent in Shah Alam, who confirmed that Monashofian was acting provocatively.

"He kept saying 'what powers do you have? And what can you policemen do?'"Amidon said.

Mehrun Siraj, commissioner and inquiry member, later asked Amidon if it were true that detainees were sprayed with chemical irritants when they were held in police trucks known as Black Marias, as had been alleged.

"I am not aware of that," the police officer replied.

Fellow commissioner Simon Sipaun asked Amidon if he could have lost his temper during the course of his duties, to which the latter answered, "It is only natural that we get angry but arrests were made that day not because we were angry, we were just doing our duty."

The inquiry, chaired by Anuar Zainal Abidin, a former chief justice of Malaya, will continue next Friday at 2.45pm at the Suhakam headquarters.