(NST) MALACCA: A photographer with New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd has reported being assaulted by five men while he was taking pictures of a hit-and-run accident in Jalan Tun Fatimah in Malim Jaya here early yesterday.
Photographer Muhammad Rasul Azli Samad, 26, said he was taking shots of the incident, when five men, believed to be related to the hit-and-run victim, appeared suddenly and surrounded him.
He said they snatched his camera and tried to smash it but he managed to grab hold of it. However, the men seized the camera's memory card and dashed off before he could do anything.
He said there was a patrol car nearby when the incident occurred but the two policemen inside did not come to his aid.
He also claimed several reporters were at the scene.
Rasul later lodged a report at the Malim police station.
"I managed to escape from getting hurt, but I am sad that the policemen just sat in the car and watched the whole incident.
"Even the police officer who took down my report did not take much notice of the matter."
The victim of the hit-and-run accident, Muhammad Hitam, 66, was killed when a car ran into him while he was walking home from his son's restaurant.
Muhammad was pinned to the car and dragged a few hundred metres before the victim's family stopped the car and attacked the 26-year-old driver.
A police spokesman said Muhammad died on the spot while the driver was admitted to the Putra Specialist Hospital for his injuries.
Meanwhile, Kelab Media Massa Melaka president Mohamad Rafi Bachik, said the association regretted the lackadaisical attitude of the policemen.
"We will write to the state police chief Datuk Mazlan Mansor to get an explanation on the whole incident and we want them to investigate the case.
"The police are supposed to come to the aid of the public who are in trouble and this includes members of the press.
"I hope the police would act on this matter as this is serious and I advise the media to be more careful when carrying out their duties."
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