Use Budi95 and Sara data to catch Indira's fugitive ex, police urged

Summary

• Group believes police can track down M Indira Gandhi’s fugitive ex-husband, Riduan Abdullah, with Budi95 and Sara data.

• Indira laments that she doesn’t even know what her missing daughter, Prasana Diksa, looks like after 16 years apart.

The Indira Gandhi Action Team (Ingat) is once again calling on the police to act on the long-standing arrest warrant against M Indira Gandhi’s ex-husband, Riduan Abdullah.

The group said the police can use data on where Riduan, previously known as K Pathmanathan, has redeemed his Budi95 petrol subsidy and Rahmah Necessities Aid (Sara) credits to locate him.

Ingat chairperson Arun Dorasamy cited a Malaysiakini report which found that Riduan had used both government aid schemes, which can only be redeemed using a MyKad within Malaysia.

“Can this one be redeemed in Thailand or anywhere else in the world? Can it be done without a MyKad?

“And this is exactly what I am asking, is this gentleman in the country or out of the country?

“But in all the affidavit that was filed by the police in Ipoh, it stipulated that he is in Thailand, what kind of quality investigation are we talking about?” he said at a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.

New police report lodged

Arun said Indira had lodged a new police report in Ipoh to urge them to act on this new information.

He also claimed that as of yesterday, his own checks showed that Riduan had used up to 200 litres of subsidised fuel under Budi95, and thus questioned claims that the latter may have escaped to Thailand, arguing that such usage suggests domestic activity.

The activist said the revelation underscores the police’s continued failure to locate Riduan and Indira’s abducted daughter, Prasana Diksa.

“The biggest saga of this case is not the court battle that we fought for decades, but it is a non-feasance and non-action from the police.

“Just a few months back, the former chief justice Tengku Maimun (Tuan Mat) had said, if the police are serious, they can find Prasana and reunite her with Indira.

“And to echo that very sentiment, we have some evidence to even strengthen our claim,” Arun added.

The Ingat chairperson warned that the group would not hesitate to initiate legal action against the inspector-general of police (IGP) once again if the authorities’ inaction persists.

“Previously, we filed a non-comittal against the IGP and failed.

“But that does not mean that we will not do it again,” Arun reiterated.

‘Can’t imagine what she looks like’

Joining the press conference virtually from Ipoh, Indira expressed heartbreak and frustration over the police’s inaction, saying she believes her daughter is still in the country.

“I know Prasana is in Malaysia, and I know that she has been kept away from me for all these 16 years.

“She must be sitting for her SPM this year, and I can’t even imagine what she looks like,” she said.

Indira also questioned the police’s reluctance to act despite clear evidence of her ex-husband’s presence in the country.

“It’s totally unacceptable. Our police are fantastic, but why in this case are they so reluctant to find Prasana?

“Are they being biased just because I’m a Hindu mother? I have never ever issued this as a religious issue. I always just wanted to see my daughter,” she lamented.

In 2009, Indira’s ex-husband unilaterally converted their three children to Islam without her consent and sought custody through the Syariah Court.

The following year, the Ipoh High Court granted Indira full custody. However, in 2014, the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court order compelling the IGP to recover Prasana.

The Federal Court, in 2018, put an end to the legal wrangle by ordering the police to arrest Riduan and reunite Prasana with her mother.

Suit against ex-IGP

Indira filed an RM100 million suit in 2020, in which she named former IGP Abdul Hamid Bador, the police, the Home Ministry, and the government as defendants, after receiving no news about her daughter’s whereabouts.

She claimed that Hamid, during his tenure as the IGP, as well as the police, had committed the tort of nonfeasance, and alleged that he intentionally neglected to carry out their duties in locating his ex-husband and daughter.

In June last year, the High Court dismissed her suit after finding that Hamid and the police had exercised their duties in executing the Federal Court’s mandamus order.

The Court of Appeal heard on Aug 11 this year that the police do not owe Indira a duty of care in the case involving the search for Riduan and Prasana.

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