B Thayanantha Rao has also filed an action for the tort of misfeasance in public office and wants a declaration from the High Court that his arrests on Dec 20, 2017 and May 10, 2019 were unlawful.

He wants a declaration that his remand order issued by a magistrate on May 11, 2019 was also invalid.

Thayanantha, 51, is also seeking an order for the police to amend and update their database and remove his name linked to Mohd Shukri Rao Abdullah, who is alleged to be involved in drug offences.

Thayanantha, who filed his suit through Messrs Rao & Kamal last year, also wants the court to award compensation, including aggravated damages, and other relief it deems fit.

He named Sgt Muhammad Izwan Izham, Cpl Hamdan Jamaludin, Insp Wan Azril Wan Said, assistant commissioners Mohd Fahmi Visuvanathan Abdullah and Zairul Nizam Mohd Zainuddin @ Hilmi, another assistant commissioner, the inspector-general of police and the government as the defendants.

Thayanantha said he was riding a motorcycle on Jalan Imbi at about 3.30pm on Dec 20, 2017 when police stopped him at a roadblock and asked to see his identity card.

On checking their database, police told him he was on the wanted list for drug-related offences and arrested him.

At the Brickfields police station, he said, he was told that although his identity card number matched that of the wanted person, he did not resemble a police photofit of the suspect. They said the wanted person had fraudulently used his identity card.

After he was freed, he lodged a police report.

On May 10, 2019, he was stopped again at a roadblock on Jalan Pudu and arrested by two policemen who told him he was linked to drug offences.

He said he explained that it was a case of mistaken identity and had lodged a police report. He also showed them the report on his phone.

He was taken to the Dang Wangi police station and kept overnight and produced before a magistrate, who sanctioned a three-day remand for further investigation.

Thayanantha said the police did not inform or allow him to communicate with his family. He was only freed on police bail at about 5pm three days later.

After his release, he said, he conducted a search at the national registration department and confirmed that no other person had the same identity card number.

He made a second report asking the police to investigate Shukri Rao for allegedly misusing his identity or identity card, based on the police database.

The government, in its defence filed in October, denied that it was negligent or had breached the duty of care or abused its power.

The defendants said the arrest and remand were done according to procedures and Thayanantha had been accorded his rights during detention.

A four-day trial has been fixed from July 18 next year before Judge Rozana Ali Yusof.