Wang Kelian RCI: Cop tells of 'beep' which led woman to shout 'police are here'

WANG KELIAN RCI | Police corporal Mat Ten told the Wang Kelian Royal Commission of Inquiry in Putrajaya how he discovered the human trafficking camps near the Thai border on Jan 18, 2015.

The General Operations Force member said he and his partner noticed tracks from the bushes leading to the road when patrolling the area.

The next morning, Mat and his immediate superior, sergeant Yusuf Islam Hassan, followed the tracks deep into the jungle, and discovered several watchtowers built on trees, camps, wooden structures and several people.

He later reported this to his superiors.

That evening, Mat and nine other police personnel embarked on a surveillance mission into the area, but had their presence detected.

Mat (below) told the panel that he observed a woman at the camp area receiving a beep on her mobile phone before alerting others to flee.

“There was a woman who shouted ‘polis sampai!’ (police are here).

“That is how we knew there were people in the houses. But they destroyed and broke everything (when trying to escape),” he added.

Mat said his team failed to arrest those who ran away, but managed to detain six “pendatang” (foreigners) who could not flee due to injuries. The six were inside a wooden structure which was fenced and locked.

The corporal added that he did not ask the nationalities of the six, who were taken to the Wang Kelian police station for processing.

The panel questioned the corporal multiple times about the team's mission, with the latter maintaining they had obtained instructions to only surveil the camps, not to raid or conduct arrests.

Following a short break, Yusuf (below) concurred in his testimony that the mission had been a mere surveillance operation.

When the panel asked why police surveillance could be so easily detected by their targets, he answered that he was unsure how it happened.

Inspector kept seized items in desk for 9 days

Meanwhile, inspector Mohd Mossadique Azni, who led the surveillance team, told the RCI that he kept items seized from the raid in his desk for nine days before handing it over to his superiors.

He also admitted to not making detailed records of the items.

Read more: Commissioners grill inspector over lapses in police procedure

The inspector said he had instructed his personnel to search the area, which resulted in them seizing several items – including a notebook scribbled in Thai, a Thai driver's license, a Nokia mobile phone, three SIM cards, a CD player and several CDs.

“I kept the items in my desk, but I did not have a locker or any cupboard which I could lock. So I just kept it in my desk, but out of plain sight,” he told the panel.

When quizzed if he had informed his superior, MA Joeking, about the seized items, Mossadique went silent for several minutes before uttering, "I think I did tell him."

Some nine days later, on Jan 29, he handed the items to police inspector Mohd Azizie Mohd, but added that they did not fill up a submission form (borang serahan).

As Mossadique explained, he did so because Azizie's quarters had a cupboard which could be locked.

Contradictions on detainees

Mossadique (below) also testified that the six undocumented migrants that his team detained from the camps were not injured, as Mat said, but just "lemah (weak)."

“Some had scars from old wounds, but none were hurt,” he said.

Azizie was the last to take the witness stand.

Working as an ethics officer at the time, he confirmed Mossadique had handed him items seized from the Jan 19 raid for safekeeping when he visited the latter’s office eight days later.

He also confirmed not filling up any submission forms for the items.

Prior to that visit, Azizie said that a Padang Besar Special Branch officer, one inspector Shah, had asked him to inquire if any items were seized from the Wang Kelian operation.

When the panel quizzed him on why an ethics officer would help safekeep seized items, Azizie admitted that the move had been beyond his job scope.

He also admitted to not informing his immediate superior superintendent Wan Hamzah about the items, which he handed directly to Shah a day after receiving them on Jan 29. 

The RCI panel is chaired by Ariffin Zakaria (above). 

The former chief justice is being assisted by former inspector-general of police Norian Mai, along with five commissioners.

They comprise former ambassador to Thailand Nazirah Hussin, former Public Accounts Committee deputy chairperson Tan Seng Giaw, former chief prosecutor Noorbahri Baharuddin, former diplomat Razali Ismail, and former head of research at the Attorney-General’s Chambers Junaidah Abdul Rahman.

The inquiry has been given until September this year to prepare its report.

The public hearing will resume tomorrow. 

Wang Kelian queries raised at George Town refugee festival

Muhyiddin: Suhakam report could aid Wang Kelian RCI

Wang Kelian mass graves: Suhakam fingers cops over 'four-month delay'

Suhakam chief, Tan Seng Giaw among Wang Kelian RCI members