A mother became fearful for her son's life and passers-by thought a robbery was in progress when an officer from the Penang Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Department allegedly pointed a gun at a watch trader during a raid and later at a group of curious onlookers.

Relating the incident today, Loo Cheng Sim, 53, said she was in her son Goh Choon Ghee's shop in Batu Ferringhi at about 8.30pm last Saturday when four enforcement officers walked in.

She claimed that one of the officers, identified as Mohd Zabidi Hassan, drew out a gun and pointed it at her son while his colleagues looked on.

"The enforcement officers did not even produce their authority cards to identify themselves. One enforcement officer, who had a beard, instantly drew a gun and pointed it at my son.

"I thought he was going to kill my son," she told a news conference at the Penang DAP headquarters.

During the incident, Goh immediately snapped photos of the gun-wielding officer with his mobile phone. The photo was produced at the news conference.

Caught off guard by the trader's quick thinking, Mohd Zabidi allegedly tried to hide his gun behind his back.

The ensuing commotion, attracted a large crowd of curious onlookers, including tourists.

'We thought it was a robbery'

Passers-by, K. Sangarlingam, 18, and Saiful Amir, 27, who witnessed the incident, told the news conference that they saw Mohd Zabidi pointing the gun first at Goh and then at the crowd while the officers were retreating back to their vehicle parked nearby.

"First we thought it was an armed robbery. But later we were informed that they were trade enforcement officers," said the duo.

Goh, who lodged a report about the incident, was arrested on the same day following a separate report lodged by the enforcement officers, who claimed the trader had attempted to attack them with a parang.

In their report, the officers said the trader's aggressive action prompted Mohd Zabidi to draw out his gun.

However, Goh vehemently denied this. Both Sangarlingam and Saiful also stated that the trader was unarmed.

The trader, who was released the next day on police bail, will have to appear at the magistrate's court on Dec 13 to face a charge of obstructing government enforcement officers from carrying out their duties.

Goh said his shop had been raided more than 10 times over the last three years.

"In all previous raids, no officer had pointed a gun at me because I had always been cooperative to them," he said, while calling on the police to carry out a fair and just investigation.

Official complaint

Penang DAP organising secretary Danny Law Heng Kiang said he plans to lodge a complaint with the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry on the incident.

"Firstly, the officer did not produce his authority card and secondly, he drew out a gun, which was totally unwarranted.

"Worse still, he threatened to harm Goh and others," said Law, who will also submit copies of his complaint to the Home Ministry, chief minister and Bukit Aman police headquarters.

Penang Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Department Fahmi Kasim said the raid was held to seize imitation branded watches from Goh's shop.

ATHI VEERANGGAN is malaysiakini's Penang-based stringer.