KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng today urged the police to explain why it confiscated the mobile phone of a deaf e-hailing driver in a high profile assault case that had garnered national attention and widespread condemnation.

He said the clarification was needed on whether or not it was police standard operating procedure (SOP) for transparency and justice.

"With a thorough investigation and clear explanation, we will ensure the rights of the people are protected and justice prevails without any compromise,” he said in a statement.

The e-hailing driver who has been identified in media reports as 46-year-old Ong Ing Keong who is deaf, claimed to have been beaten up by a security staff who escorted the Johor Regent at a high-end hotel near Brickfields in the national capital earlier this week.

Ong claimed his assailant had instructed him to drive off from the location where he was parked temporarily while waiting to pick up a passenger.

He alleged that he was beaten up when he couldn’t understand what the security personnel said.

The driver filed a second police report saying he wants no further action because the matter had been resolved amicably but the move raised further eyebrows.

Just hours after the police announced the case had been closed, the Malaysian Deaf Advocacy and Wellbeing Association (Dawn) issued a statement saying the complainant was mistreated when he was called in to record his statement over his allegation.

The police were said to have threatened to confiscate his smartphone, which likely forced the e-hailing driver to opt for a settlement.

It was also suggested that the complainant was also offered compensation, but did not state who offered it.

Lim said the police needed to address the accusation levelled against them by the victim.

"First, how the investigating officer handled Ong. Did they perform their duties with professionalism and empathy or are there elements of power abuse and neglect in responsibility?

"Second, who is responsible for drafting the second police report for Ong? Was the report made willingly by Ong or are there other parties influencing the report's content?

"Third, whether Ong received ‘compensation’ amounting to RM80 and from whom the payment was given? Is this payment meant to silence Ong?” Lim asked.

In a Facebook statement yesterday, Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said that there is a movement using a recent incident alleging assault by his security detail to smear the royal institution’s reputation.

He urged the public to give the authorities space to carry out their investigation into the incident that took place earlier this week.