Fahmi Reza, the graphic artist behind the clown portrait of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, said it was the police who helped secure his passage to Taiwan.

Fahmi had last week said that he was on the Immigration Department's blacklist, supposedly because he was a wanted person.

However, he said, a police officer he dubbed as "Inspector R" - who was said to have put him on the wanted list in the first place - helped to lift the travel ban.