KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — Some 20 traders at Plaza Kota Raya were involved in an altercation with Immigration Department officials raiding the shopping mall, resulting in one arrest.

According to local daily New Straits Times, the incident occurred around 1.30pm yesterday when unhappy traders asked the officers to move the illegal immigrants detained in the raid away from the complex entrance.

One officer claimed the traders remained unhappy even after the detainees were moved and became physical soon after.

“However, after we moved the group further, one of the shop assistants called me and wanted to talk. He pushed my chest and asked what uniform I was wearing, and I told him that it is our operation uniform (camouflage uniform).

“Then he grabbed my uniform and started shouting,” said the officer who asked not to be named.

The scuffle lasted for about 15 minutes before the police arrived. One of the twenty shopkeepers was arrested for obstructing and assaulting public servants, while the others fled.

The daily quoted Immigration Department director-general Datuk Mustafa Ibrahim as saying that the department was doing its best to eradicate illegal immigrants in the country and those obstructing authorities “would be arrested or charged in court.”

National news agency Bernama reported that over 100 illegal immigrants were arrested in Malacca last month through Ops Kutip while 979 were nabbed in Cameron Highlands through a special integrated operation last December.