KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Sungai Besar chief Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos went missing from his bed at the Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital this evening.
It was understood his absence was noticed at 5.30pm when the Shah Alam deputy court registrar arrived at the hospital.
Jamal had been arrested and then placed under remand recently for allegedly displaying a firearm in pictures that had gone viral on social media websites.
Earlier today, he was charged with being a public nuisance for an Oct 5 protest in front of the Selangor State Secretariat building where he smashed crates of beer with a sledgehammer.
He was charged at the hospital where he had been warded under police watch after complaining of back pains.
However, when the deputy registrar arrived for documentation procedures, Jamal was nowhere to be seen, though his lawyer and bailer were there.
Jamal’s lawyer claimed his client had been missing since 3pm, after his case was heard by magistrate Raja Noor Dilla Raja Mahyaldin and he was allowed bail of RM3,000.
Following his disappearance, police set up roadblocks around the Ampang area.
Selangor Criminal Investigation Department chief Assistant Commissioner Fadzil Ahmat, when contacted, confirmed that police were now looking for Jamal.
“While the court documentation process was still taking place, Jamal went missing. We will look for him and contact him again to complete the documentation for bail,” he said.
The protest at the Selangor secretariat building was to protest the then-controversial Better Beer Festival 2017.
Members of the press were not allowed from entering the ward where the half-hour proceeding took place.
Jamal was charged under Section 290 of the Penal Code and is facing a RM400 fine if convicted.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Megat Mahathir Megat Afendi prosecuted while Jamal was represented by lawyer Mohd Nasir Yusof.
The magistrate set bail at RM3,000 and set June 9 for case mention at the Shah Alam magistrate's court.