Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim) today sent a letter to Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai to complain about alleged harassment of a party official by the police.

Prim pro tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar (photo) in the letter said the police attempted to arrest his deputy P Karunakaran yesterday "for no reason".

ID not revealed

Two police officers allegedly approached Karunakaran at the parking lot of a shopping centre and asked him to produce his identity card.

"The two officers just called Karunakaran a 'suspect' but refused to elaborate o­n what was his offence.

"When he asked the officers to produce their identification documents, they simply flashed their tags to him and did not allow him to copy their names and details," said Uthayakumar.

He said the officers also threatened to arrest Karunakaran if the latter refused to cooperate with them.

Karunakaran then immediately contacted him for help, and it was o­nly upon his arrival that Karunakaran was allowed the officers' identification details.

The entire episode lasted for about an hour and Karunakaran was eventually let go. He proceeded to the Subang Jaya police station to lodge a police report against the two officers for violating the procedure of arrest.

No reason

Uthayakumar said the police cannot just arrest a 'suspect' without first explaining their 'reasonable suspicion'.

"It was not the first time that we receive such complaints where a suspect is arrested for no reason and released later without further investigation," he said.

He said yesterday's incident was the second police harassment Karunakaran encountered in a month.

The first allegedly took place last month when an officer called Karunakaran at home and asked for his presence at the police station in relation to a car theft, Uthayakumar revealed.

He said such instances of police abusing their power must be stopped immediately, adding that Prim hoped Norian Mai would issue a written directive to all police officers asking them to be more sensitive and reasonable in their actions.

"This is important to the creation of a caring society, considering that we are moving towards becoming a developed nation," he said.