Ex-cop says 'forbidden' from joining ops after probing Wang Kelian tip-off
WANG KELIAN RCI | A now retired police commander has revealed that he had been tipped off about the involvement of Malaysians in a human trafficking syndicate operating at the Thai-Malaysian border in Wang Kelian, Perlis back in 2015.
But after investigating the tip-off and informing his higher-ups about what he had found, the commander claimed he had been “forbidden” to go on any more police operations to the area right up until he left the force.
WANG KELIAN RCI | A now retired police commander has revealed that he had been tipped off about the involvement of Malaysians in a human trafficking syndicate operating at the Thai-Malaysian border in Wang Kelian, Perlis back in 2015.
But after investigating the tip-off and informing his higher-ups about what he had found, the commander claimed he had been “forbidden” to go on any more police operations to the area right up until he left the force.
Testifying before the Wang Kelian Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) today, DSP T Sivaganam (above) recounted how an anonymous man had phoned him on Jan 20, 2015, claiming that Wang Kelian kampung folk were helping traffickers to “transport” undocumented migrants into Malaysia through the border.
The caller further claimed to have been approached with a job offer by the middle-person in the arrangement, whom Sivaganam said was named either “Azis or Azim”.
The caller had also claimed that the middle-person in question had assured him that “everyone had been taken care of”.
This phone call occurred one day after Sivaganam’s officers had discovered human camps, albeit almost empty, deep in the Wang Kelian jungles.
Sivaganam told the panel that after receiving the call, he travelled to the town and identified the said middle-person, but did not investigate further the claims that he was involved in a human trafficking syndicate.
The police commander then compiled an incident report and submitted it to his superiors, as well as to the Perlis and Kedah police chiefs for further action.
The report, which was produced before the inquiry today, had included a claim that the middle-person would meet with Malaysian authorities in order to "jayakan aktiviti" (accomplish activities).
Two months later, in March 2015, he claimed he was told by his own commander, Northern Brigade Commander Mohammad Nasir Ramli, that he had been barred from joining any more operations to Wang Kelian.
“The commander instructed me not to go for another operation. Until I retired, I never went on any operation,” he said.
Sivaganam retired in July 2016.
Why no further probes?
The retired police officer was then grilled by panel members as to why he did not conduct further investigations into the activities of the alleged middle-person after identifying him.
“As an officer with more than 30 years of experience, surely you must be able to get better information than this?” inquiry deputy chairperson and former inspector-general of police Norian Mai asked.
Sivaganam answered that he had submitted his brief incident report for his superiors to probe further as his battalion was to soon end their rotation of duty at the Wang Kelian area at that time.
However, he was never contacted by his superiors after submitting the report, he said.
The RCI proceedings today were chaired by former chief justice Ariffin Zakaria.
He was assisted by Norian along with five commissioners - former ambassador to Thailand Nazirah Hussin; former Public Accounts Committee deputy chairperson Tan Seng Giaw; former chief prosecutor Noorbahri Baharuddin; former Suhakam chairperson Razali Ismail and former head of research at the Attorney-General’s Department Junaidah Abdul Rahman.
The entire hearing will be conducted by deputy public prosecutors Khairul Anuar Abdul Halim and Saiful Hazmi Mohd Saad.
The inquiry has been given six months until September this year to prepare their report.
The hearing will resume on Monday.
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