PKR duo arrested amid extortion allegations

The police have arrested two PKR members who were implicated in a viral video clip for allegedly demanding “protection money”.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Fadil Marsus confirmed the arrests last night.

Yesterday, PKR ordered the pair to immediately resign from their positions in the Federal Territory Residents Representative Council.

Their resignations were meant to facilitate investigations by the police and party, said Federal Territories PKR leadership council chairperson Azman Abidin.

Previously, the two men denied the allegations, insisting that their visit to the massage parlour at Wisma Setapak on March 24 was part of “routine monitoring”.

Federal Territory Residents Representative Council deputy chairperson for Sub-Zone 2 in Wangsa Maju, R Vijeyndran, and chairperson for Sub-Zone 6 in Wangsa Maju, G Paarthiydasan, have also filed police reports over the video.

At the time, Wangsa Maju district police chief Lazim Ismail said investigations were being conducted under Section 385 of the Penal Code for putting persons in fear of injury to commit extortion and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for improper use of network facilities.

On Wednesday, a Facebook account called “Kelab Penyokong Perikatan Nasional” uploaded an eight-minute and 34-second video, claiming it depicted Wangsa Maju PKR division committee members soliciting payments from a massage parlour.

In the video, which appears to be a clip from a CCTV recording, the men were shown speaking about an offer related to Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s inner workings. However, most of the audio is muffled and indistinct.

On Thursday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh said she has ordered a police report to be lodged over the video.

She affirmed that if the allegations were true, the men would be dismissed from their roles in the Residents Representative Council, stressing that there is “no tolerance” for any form of “protection money” or “broker” practices.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall separately denied any involvement with the men’s alleged activities, rejecting claims linking it with requests for protection money and abuse of power.

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