The courts may not have needed to establish the motive for the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, but the inspector-general of police (IGP) is duty bound to find out the reasons for his men's gruesome act.

DAP Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang said for IGP Khalid Abu Bakar not to do so amounts to "dereliction of duty".

"Malaysians had not expected the IGP ( left ) to be so supine as to virtually accept Abdul Razak Baginda’s cop-out account that it is impossible to know the motive for the murder of Altantuya.

 

"It is a gross dereliction of duty on the part of the IGP that he is not interested in finding out why two members of the elite police force, one a chief inspector and the other a corporal, murdered in cold-blood a defenceless Mongolian woman, using C4 explosives, when both did not know the victim and had no logical motive or reasonable cause for committing the murder," said Lim in a statement today.

"Although the courts did not establish the motive for the murder of Altantuya, the least a responsible and conscientious IGP should do after the completion of the murder trial would be to launch a thorough and wide-ranging inquiry to ascertain why two elite policemen, tasked with protecting people’s lives, had murdered in cold blood defenceless Altantuya?" he added.

The long-drawn case of Altantuya's murder had first seen the conviction of the two police commandos Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri, who were later freed on appeal.

However, the Federal Court this month overturned the appeal and sentenced both to death for the murder.

Throughout the course of the trials, the court found no need to establish the motive for the murder case that has gripped the entire nation.

'Prepare for a full inquiry'

Meanwhile, Lim questioned whether Khalid was prepared to have a full inquiry as to how members of the elite police force could be bought to break the law as to commit a cold-blooded murder just for money.

In his confession to the police in the form of a caution statement, Sirul had told the interrogating officer that he was offered RM50,000 to RM100,000 to kill Altantuya.

“Is Khalid prepared to defend his police personnel to ascertain whether Sirul and Azilah had gone on a frolic of their own to kill Altantuya with C4 explosives, or whether they were told to do so by very powerful individuals?

“Does Khalid agree with Abdul Razak that this was a ‘straightforward murder’ case?” Lim ( left ) asked further.

As for the many unresolved questions surrounding Altantuya’s murder, Lim said his party will urge for an all-party parliamentary committee to inquire into the questions when Parliament reconvenes on March 9.

“The all-party parliamentary committee will be one follow-up action that could be taken to find answers to the maze of Altantuya questions haunting the nation.

“The committee is best chaired by an opposition MP, but if there is any BN MP who is prepared to chair it, I do not see it as a major objection.”

The DAP leader said, should the government not want to establish such a committee, other alternatives will be explored.

“For instance, a hybrid of a parliamentary-civil society committee comprising of MPs from both BN and Pakatan who are prepared to serve, as well as civil society participation,” he said.