"That's him, one hundred percent!" said Indian national Milan Kumar Pandey when asked if a photo of highly-wanted Malaysian fugitive Michael Soosai - believed to have faked his death in 2003 - was the man he had worked for in India early last month.

In a telephone interview today, the 29-year-old freelance computer worker positively identified Soosai's mug-shot which malaysiakini had e-mailed to him.

Malaysiakini had got in touch with Pandey after discovering that he been contacted by two foreign men to assist them in setting up a controversial website detailing Soosai's alleged corrupt links with Malaysian police.

The 42-year-old fugitive is wanted for 17 crimes in Malaysia including intimidation and harassment.

Pandey said he met two men only known to him as 'Mr William' and 'Dr Mahadevan' in June and had assisted them in hiring another local, Rajeev Kumar, to design and register the website in the northern Indian province of Patna. Both Rajeev and Pandey are from the province.

"I answered an advertisement in the national newspaper, the Times of India , for the position of a personal assistant. I called the telephone number in the ad and was offered the post on the same day.

Underworld don movie

"I was then met by this Chinese-looking man (William) and a man with darker complexion (Dr Mahadevan) who told me they were movie-makers, whose core business was financing.

"The picture which malaysiakini sent me is that of Dr Mahadevan - whom you say is Michael Soosai - but he now has a moustache," he said. Soosai's photo had been previously splashed across Malaysian media.

'Dr Mahadevan', incidentally, is also the name of the contact person listed on the website. Malaysiakini has sent several messages to the e-mail address but has not received a reply.

Pandey further related that he had met the duo about 10 times during his one week with them.

"I first met them on June 2 and the last time on June 10. Mostly we met in a famous hotel in Patna called Hotel Chanakaya. I was told that the site was for an upcoming Bollywood movie. I didn't know whether it was about something else or something illegal," he added.

The duo told Pandey that they would be setting up an office in Patna soon, and the production house was temporarily operating from the posh hotel.

Pandey's revelation ties in with that of the unwitting webmaster, Rajeev, who previously said that he designed the damning website after being enticed by a 'glamourous job' offer of designing a horror-themed website for an upcoming Hindi movie about a famous Indian underworld don.

"They said something about the website being an 'open-book story' but that didn't make any sense to me at that time," said Pandey.

Money not paid

William and Mahadevan had told Pandey that they were from Singapore and worked for a company called World Trade Finance Inc.

An Internet search showed that the financing company is based in California, US but it has neither a Singapore branch nor any connection to the two men.

Asked if he was planning to relate his information to the police, Pandey was non-committal. He said he had yet to be contacted by either the Indian or Malaysian police on the matter.

"What I really want though is the 15,000 rupees (RM1,300) which they owe me. They said the amount was my monthly salary and it would be reviewed after a three-month probation but they disappeared after a week.

"I have not been paid or reimbursed a single cent for services rendered," he fumed, adding that the duo's mobile numbers were no longer reachable.

Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur said they have not been approached by Malaysian police in relation to the on-going investigations on Soosai, who is believed to be hiding in India.

"It is a matter for the Malaysian police to deal with directly with the relevant authorities in India," said the mission's second secretary Charan Jeet Laal, when contacted yesterday.

Federal police Narcotics Department Deputy Director Ismail Omar could not be reached for comment.

Ismail had recently taken over the Soosai investigations from the federal police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The switch was made following allegations on the Soosai website implicating several senior CID personnel.

Daughter eloped

The website alleged that police officers - some of whom now hold top posts in the force - had protected Soosai for their own gain and assisted him when he faked his own death in 2003.

Soosai was said to be so influential with the police that when he was arrested, he had many officers from a commercial crime unit transferred.

Soosai's case was re-opened after a Malaysian was killed in the southern Indian city of Chennai last December.

The deceased was lorry driver N Subramaniam whose son Soosai's daughter had eloped with. Soosai is said to have disapproved of the relationship.

Subramaniam had gone to India with his wife Palli Pillamah after being told that they had won an all-expense paid trip. On arriving in India, the two were separated. Subramaniam's body was found eight days later.

His wife lodged a police report upon returning to Malaysia claiming that Soosai - who had forgery charges against him withdrawn when he was reported to have 'died' two years ago - had murdered her husband.