Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email Guess lawyer job is becoming more hazardous! More like scene from movie, if you read the below. Thanks to JRatnam for highlighting this news.
I think this may force lawyers to choose their clients more carefully. On the other hand, this kind of intimidation can pervert the justice because those seeking legal service may not get a lawyer due to harassment by the opposing group.
The police should take more proactive action to protect lawyers, reporters, etc.
A LAWYER smashed his head against an office window pane, shattering the glass, and leapt out to escape from parang-wielding men posing as potential clients.
K. Govindaraju’s quick action apparently caught the three men by surprise, as they bolted from his ground-floor law firm on Church Street in Penang.
In a scene resembling an action-packed movie, the 59-year-old gutsy lawyer picked himself up, hopped onto a motorcycle and chased two of the men fleeing in a taxi, and eventually caught one of them.
The drama unfolded at about 11.15am on Wednesday when the trio, in their late 20s, turned up with one of them introducing himself as Michael and mentioning a multi-million dollar case that Govindaraju was handling.
Narrating his ordeal, Govindaraju said the man suddenly pulled a chair between them and used his fingers to point at his head like a gun while another man unfolded a newspaper to reveal two parangs.
The men, who had adhesive tapes with them, ordered him to sit down but he moved closer to the window when one of them tried to slash him with the parang.
“I knew I would be in trouble if I obeyed them, so I hit the window pane with my head and jumped out,” he told The Star yesterday.
After Govindaraju made his escape, the trio ran out from his office towards St George’s Church.
A nephew alerted him that a friend, upon seeing two of the men boarding a taxi, was tailing them out of suspicion.
Hopping onto his despatch clerk’s motorcycle, they gave chase and intercepted the taxi at the general post office.
“I dragged one of the two men out. He pushed me aside and ran towards Weld Quay,” Govindaraju claimed.
A passing motorcyclist gave him a lift and the pursuit continued until the fleeing man was subdued near the pier before the police were called. The other accomplices managed to make their escape.
Govindaraju, who suffered slight injuries on his left elbow, right hand and head, lodged a report at the Beach Street police station.
George Town OCPD Asst Comm Gan Kong Meng said police were investigating the case under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation.
