PETALING JAYA: ‘Man Namblast’ and Mohd Hidayat, the two Facebook users who had insulted the Hindus as ‘syaitan’ (demons) during the recent Thaipusam festival are indeed the same person.
This was made public today when the police confirmed the identity of both as belonging to the same person.
Gombak district police chief Abdul Rahim Abdullah, in confirming to FMT today, said that Mohd Hidayat was using the pseudonym ‘Man Namblast’ when he posted the remarks on his Facebook wall.
“We are still investigating the matter but as for now we believe that he is using the name of Man Namblast,” he said.
Rahim added that they have also confiscated several items belonging to Mohd Hidayat, which will be handed over to the forensic’s department.
The police said that he has been released on police bail for the moment.
“We have already seized his gadgets to be sent to the forensic lab. Once everything is completed we will hand the investigation paper to the Deputy Public Prosecutor for further action.”
On a posting believed to be made on Jan 17, Mohd Hidayat allegedly used a fake account by the name ‘Man Namblast’ to put up a picture on his Facebook wall with a caption that read: “Berpuluh ribu syaitan sedang berarak menaiki Bt Caves,”(in translation: tens of thousands of demons are marching up the stairs of Batu Caves).
Later, the posting was defended by Mohd Hidayat, using another account.
With mounting pressure from MIC Youth and hundreds of police reports, Mohd Hidayat was finally arrested on Monday at his house.
He is a school teacher from Segambut and his statement was recorded here under section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948.
Initially it was believed that Mohd Hidayat and Man Namblast were two different individuals, and most of the police reports were made against ‘them both’.
On Wednesday, MIC’s Youth chief C Sivarraajh had confirmed with reporters that police had nabbed two individuals in connection to the case.
Apparently there was a confusion following a twitter message from the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar who had claimed that Man Namblast was arrested; while the Gombak police said that they have also arrested a person called Mohd Hidayat for investigations in relation to the same case.
Meanwhile an MIC Youth leader was called in by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to record his statement over the matter.
P Punithan claimed that he went to Putrajaya to give his statement. He added that he had lodged a police report last Friday on behalf of MIC at the Gombak district police station after being requested to do so by MCMC.
“MCMC told me that apart from the police, they will also be pressing charges against Mohd Hidayat under section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act,” said Punithan.
