Man accuses NEA officers of assault

[youallhumsup]

Man accuses NEA officers of assault
Zenzen
InSing.com

<cite style="display: block; font-style: normal; font-size: 10px; margin-top: 4px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; ">The man showing his bruises and how he was pinned down by the NEA officers. (Pics / Stomp / The New Paper)</cite>
A man is claiming that officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA) assaulted him. According to a report in The New Paper, the incident took place at about 11am last Tuesday, 6 September. Zhong Wen Cai (late 20s, sales executive) was having his smoke break at a stone seat outside Raffles City Shopping Centre when two NEA officers approached him.

Zhong left a cigarette butt on the seat and was just standing up when the officers stopped him and informed him that he was littering. The officers asked for his identity card (IC) but Zhong responded by picking up the cigarette butt and throwing it into a nearby rubbish bin instead. Zhong then tried to explain to the officers that the incident was a misunderstanding.

Zhong told The New Paper, "I didn't throw the cigarette butt on the floor, I merely left it on the seat. Moreover, when they approached me, I had just stood up. I hadn't even taken a step forward." Zhong then tried to walk away from the officers but one of them grabbed his right shoulder. In response, Zhong swung his right arm to free himself and tried to walk away faster.

The officers caught up to him, knocked him to the ground, then pinned him down with one knee on his back and his left arm locked behind his back. Zhong surrendered his IC to the officers but continued to be pinned down for two more minutes before being released. Indignant at the treatment, Zhong called the police to complain that the NEA officers had assaulted him.

He also felt publicly embarrassed and made to feel like a criminal. He added that he does not understand why the officers had to resort to such violence. Zhong was taken by ambulance to the Singapore General Hospital and treated for bruises on his shoulder and hand. Zhong complained of intense pain from his shoulder injury and was given three days of medical leave.

Police have classified the case as "criminal force used against a public servant", which implies that Zhong had called the police on himself for using force against the NEA officers.