SUBANG JAYA: Mob justice does not pay as six suspects alleged to have
taken the law into their own hands and killed a snatch thief, may be
charged with murder.

Police believe that with the arrest of the suspects, all in their 20s, they had solved the murder of Mohd Farid Sarader Ali, 24, who was alleged to have snatched the handbag of a VIP’s wife.

Following the incident, Mohd Farid, an odd job worker, was allegedly beaten up by the VIP’s son and his friends in Kampung Sri Puchong on Aug 5.

He was admitted to Serdang Hospital the same day and died three days later without regaining consciousness.

District police chief ACP Zainal Rashid Abu Bakar said yesterday that all the six suspects were arrested in Puchong.

He added they had concluded their investigations and handed over the investigation papers to the deputy public prosecutor (DPP) yesterday.

Zainal Rashid was asked to comment on an allegation by Sakina Kushi Mohamad, the mother of Mohd Farid, that the police were dragging their feet in the case as she claimed it involved a VIP’s son.

“We recorded statements from the victim’s friends who were at the scene and also people relevant to the case. Now we’ll just wait for the DPP’s decision,” he said, declining to e l a b o r at e .

He also said that Mohd Farid had several previous records for snatch t h e f t s.

Asked if the VIP’s son was one of the six suspects, he declined comment.

Earlier in the day, Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo held a press conference where Sakina, 48, expressed her dissatisfaction at the police for not taking her son’s case seriously.

“It is almost two weeks and police have not done anything to ensure that justice is served in the case of my son’s death.

“Even if he did snatch the Datin’s handbag, he doesn’t deserve to die,” she added with tears in her eyes.

Supervisor Eyanzal Arsat, 24, who was also at the press conference at Sakina’s house in Taman Puchong Permai, said that he heard that Mohd Farid had snatched the handbag of a VIP’s wife in front of a supermarket on July 28.

“Following that, the VIP’s wife, who was a Datin, had noted the victim’s motorcycle registration number and tracked him down,” he added.

He said on Aug 5, the VIP’s son confronted Mohd Farid at a friend’s place, one unit above Sakina’s flat, and took him (Mohd Farid) to Kampung Sri Puchong.

“We followed the VIP son’s car to the place but could not do anything as some 25 men bashed him up in front of the Datin,” he said, adding that after a while, the police arrived and the men escaped.

“Although Mohd Farid was quite badly injured, the officers took him to the station to make a report and that wa s where he collapsed and slipped into a coma,” he said.