In a statement, the armed forces said the scuffle that occurred at the National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM) last Friday was caused by a misunderstanding and could have been avoided.

“The armed forces took steps to restore harmony by arranging a meeting between the two. The meeting ended with the parties forgiving each other.

“Both agreed to withdraw the police reports they had made,” it said in a statement.

On Nov 13, Bernama reported that retired major Qayyum Badaruddin had claimed he was threatened and abused by a serving officer during a motivational talk programme at UPNM.

Qayyum claimed that abusive words were hurled at him by an officer believed to be a counsellor at the armed forces headquarters.

He alleged that the officer had acted harshly by holding his neck and dragging him to the side of the hall in front of 200 trainees.

The armed forces said Qayyum was invited to give a motivational speech to the trainees. However, a technical disruption happened during the event, resulting in a delay.

“After waiting for almost 20 minutes, the invited speaker approached the armed forces officer to seek further clarification because he was worried that he would be late for his next appointment.

“Following that, an argument and misunderstanding broke out between them. Another officer stepped in to resolve the conflict. Both individuals then filed separate police reports,” it said.

The armed forces said the issue was now considered to have been resolved amicably and urged all quarters not to speculate about the incident.