A man who carries the ‘Datuk’ title was infuriated after a customer, at the hotpot restaurant he was in, asked him to lower his voice and to not make too much noise.
In the 9pm incident at the TST Hotpot restaurant at Tropicana Avenue, Petaling Jaya on Jan 12, the man assaulted a male victim and slapped another female victim before leaving the restaurant.
Following that, the 31-year-old male victim, who works as a manager, filed a police report.
Selangor police’s criminal investigation department (CID) chief Fadzil Ahmat told the media that the police launched a manhunt for the suspect and arrested him on the same day.
Another man, who is believed to be the suspect’s accomplice, was also arrested.
“The incident happened after a patron advised the suspect, who sat next to his table to lower his voice after the latter talked loudly.
“The police arrested the 42-year-old Datuk and another 39-year-old man,” he said.
The Datuk is said to have a past criminal record for criminal intimidation.
Fadzil added that the police will investigate the duo’s background to find out if they were involved in gangsterism or other illegal activities.
The case was investigated under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt, as well as Section 503 and Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation.
According to witnesses, the Datuk and his friends had entered the restaurant and appeared to be visibly drunk.
They were heard talking loudly and seen shouting at restaurant workers repeatedly.
The victim is said to have confronted the group and asked them to keep their voices down so as to not disturb other patrons.
However, his actions appear to have angered the Datuk, who then left the restaurant to make a phone call.
Shortly thereafter, two men clad in black T-shirts entered the restaurant and asked the workers to point out the person who had told the group to keep it down.
After identifying the couple, the men proceeded to physically assault them.
A video recording said to be of the incident has been widely shared on social media. In it, a couple can be seen being slapped multiple times across the face by men clad in black T-shirts.
The video also shows a group trying to calm the suspect who hit the male victim with his hand. At the time of the incident, the victim was having dinner with his girlfriend.