Police have arrested three members of PAS' volunteer corps Unit Amal to aid investigations into the torching of Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin's official vehicle.

All three have since been remanded for four days.

This was confirmed by Unit Amal director Mohd Nazree Mohd Aris today.

"I was made to understand that the Unit Amal members are not the prime suspects," he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

"The prime suspect is not from Unit Amal or PAS. We don’t know who the person is." 

'Ulterior motives'

Nazree (photo) thus questioned if there were ulterior motives behind the arrests.

"I am shocked at why the police caught my personnel when they were not involved, and possess no criminal record.

"The prime suspects were captured by the CCTV outside the mufti’s house. One of them is a drug addict and has a record of committing five serious crimes, while the other remains at large.

"The police’s actions have been strange, and I feel that there are certain parties who are trying to persecute us," he claimed.

On Sunday, police arrested a 36-year-old man who confessed to have, together with a friend, set fire to Asri’s black Honda Accord on March 22 after being paid RM500.

According to the suspect, the people who paid him were on a mission to harm Asri, and had initially wanted the mufti's face splashed with acid.

Police are investigating the case under Section 435 of the Penal Code for mischief by fire with an intent to cause damage, which is punishable by up to 14 years' jail and a fine.

'Deliberate attempt to give us bad name'

In a Facebook post today, Asri said that two Unit Amal members had been arrested by the police in connection with the case, and included images of both.

Featured in both images was PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang. The post has since been taken down.

Nazree criticised Asri's (photo) accusation, and characterised the entire episode as an attack on the cerdibility of not just Unit Amal, but also PAS.

“(The two members shown in the post) don't know about the incident, and were not involved at all.

"The post uploaded by the administrators of Asri’s Facebook page is very irresponsible.

"They have not been charged for the case and they were only arrested to help with the investigations," he stressed.

“All this is a deliberate attempt to shame us. We have always had outstanding credibility, and we have helped many people, regardless of whether they are from Pakatan Harapan or BN, and no matter what race or religion they are.

“Certain people are envious of us and they want to give us and PAS a bad name,” he claimed. 


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