The man started a thread on Twitter yesterday alleging that the officers had attempted to seize his handphone after “noticing” the word ‘MKT’ in his WhatsApp application.

He tweeted that the police tailed him to his parent’s house after he ran from them following an incident on Saturday.

The man alleged that after “negotiating” with the police, he was “invited” to the district police headquarters and subsequently released.

Cheras police chief Muhammad Idzam Jaafar said his officers suspected the man of buying an illegal lottery ticket through a mobile application at the food stall.

“The police don’t simply check anyone’s handphone. My officers did that after noticing the man buying an illegal lottery ticket on his phone,” he told FMT.

He said the man claimed “MKT” meant “market”, whereas the officers knew it stood for “Magnum, Kuda and Toto”.

“When he escaped, he managed to delete the app,” he said.

Idzam said the man was released after a “documentation process” at the station.