The man who was widely criticised for his comments about a Traffic Police officer who was killed on duty was arrested on Sunday (Jun 4) – albeit over an entirely different matter.
Thomas Chua Poh Heng, 39, was arrested for alleged shop theft at a department store along Syed Alwi Road, police said in a news release in the early hours of Monday.
The incident took place at 5.37am on Sunday. In-house security officers detained Chua outside the store with an unpaid item and handed him over to the police.
Chua was already under investigation for three other separate police reports lodged against him since January, police said, adding that investigations into these cases were still ongoing.
Channel NewsAsia understands that the offences include shop thefts and traffic violations.
Chua earlier claimed that he received traffic violations from Nadzrie Matin, the police officer who was killed in a traffic accident while on duty and gloated over the officer’s death. Chua’s comments, made on Facebook, were roundly condemned by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam as an “insult to all police officers“.
Police told Channel NewsAsia that Chua did receive traffic summonses but confirmed that none of them were issued by the officer who died.
“The remarks were hurtful and unfair to not only our officers but to his friends, family and loved ones as well. However, we remain objective and professional in our dealing with Thomas Chua,” a police spokesman said to Channel NewsAsia.
Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com
