A youth was manhandled by supporters of Datuk Seri Najib Razak outside a restaurant near Universiti Malaya this afternoon where the former prime minister was holding a meet-and-greet session.
Among the supporters was Supreme Council member Lokman Noor Adam.
Najib was speaking at a dialogue in the upper floor of Restoral Amjal, a popular meeting place for activists and students.
Carrying a cardboard caricature of a clown-faced Najib, fewer than a dozen students could be heard shouting outside the restaurant after Friday prayers at the nearby mosque.
The students were also holding placards with the words “Arrest Najib”, “Najib is shameless”, “Return the people’s money” and “Where is RM2.6 billion?”
Several police officers immediately rushed to the scene and a commotion broke out.
Najib’s aides were also spotted reprimanding the youths.
Lokman later snatched the ‘clown-faced’ cutout and tore it.
Subsequently, another supporter grabbed the student, who was carrying the cutout, in a reverse chokehold and attempted to pull him over the railing which separated the pavement from the road.
However, other supporters, including Lokman, intervened and stopped him.
Reportedly, the manhandled student was Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) president Wong Yan Ke.
Following the confrontation, the students retreated from the scene.
Police took the students in their vehicles to the Pantai Dalam police station.
“We were brought to the police station for protection. We’re not under investigation,” Wong was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.
Meanwhile, Lokman defended the supporters’ action and accused the students of provoking them.
“I don’t care if they protest, but when they use a picture of Najib, that is our boss. It is our right to take that picture and tear it,” he added.