The police today resubmitted their investigation papers on the sexual crime and assault allegations against Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general Zulkipli Mat Noor to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

When contacted, Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan confirmed that the papers were submitted this afternoon.

"(The investigation papers are) based on our investigations in 1997. It was studied by the deputy public prosecutor's office before being submitted to the AG's Chambers for further action," he said.

The investigation papers were first submitted to the AG's Chambers in 1997 following a report filed by an housewife.

It is not clear what had happened to the papers, but Zulkipli said yesterday that he was cleared of the charges.

According to Sun2Surf , the woman had lodged a 12-page report to the police, giving full details of her alleged affair with Zulkipli when he was the Johor police chief and alleged physical abuse at his hands.

Zulkipli landed in the spotlight on Monday following the disclosure of a report penned by former Sabah ACA chief Mohamad Ramli Manan last year.

The report addressed to then inspector-general of police Mohd Bakri Omar contained allegations of corruption and sexual crimes against Zulkipli.

Zulkipli, who was the former Sarawak police chief prior to his appointment as ACA director-general in 2001, has since denied the charges.

Independent committee

Meanwhile, the Movement for Democracy and Anti-Corruption (Gerak), which had exposed the report, said an independent committee must be set up to probe the allegations.

According to its chairperson Ezam Mohd Noor, the committee will be 'the only way out' to uncover the truth.

"We are afraid that the authorities will evade from addressing the complaints," he said when contacted.

However, he conceded that setting up an independent committee could be difficult "as ACA has a lot of files involving VIPs."

Ezam also reiterated his call to revamp the ACA, including the appointment of its top officials. He also called for the declaration of assets of civil servants to be made public.

"People who hold important posts in the government go through a vetting process which is not transparent. Why not make it public?" he added.

Why no action?

Meanwhile, Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh said the police should be allowed to carry out a full investigation first.

"We should give the police a chance to conduct a thorough investigation (into all the allegations). Let's see how the process works out and if the investigation fails to instill public confidence, then we should have an independent body to deal with the matter," he said

He also called on Musa to reveal the findings of the 1997 investigation.

Transparency International-Malaysia president Ramon Navaratnam also shared the same view.

"There may be good reason for not taking action on the basis of the lack of evidence. Whatever the cause for the lack of action, the authorities should clear the air and be accountable to show their seriousness in containing corruption and maintaining integrity.

"Therefore, explain to the public on the investigation made by the police and why they have not acted upon it," he added.

He stressed that it is important for the government to be transparent on this matter since it involves "serious allegations against someone no less than the ACA chief."