Police over-hasty in clearing Nazri's son: Are they trying to protect Umno - Surendran

I refer to the the statement by Brickfields OCPD Wan Abdul Bari clearing de facto Law Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz's son of involvement in the assault upon a security guard on March 20. The haste with which the district police chief has issued a public statement exonerating Nazri's son is suspicious and disturbing.

Are the police trying to protect Umno and the government's reputation? The public is entitled to a thorough and impartial investigation into this incident. Wan Abdul Bari's statement is inconsistent with earlier reports that Nazri's son had personally assaulted the security guard.

It has also been reported that there are CCTV recordings of the entire incident. What do the CCTV tapes reveal? In their rush to clear the senior Umno Minister's son of wrongdoing, the police have only raised more suspicions and doubts as to what really transpired on the night of March 20.

Nazri must also set an example

Nazri Abdul Aziz must also break his silence on the source of funds for the purchase of the Porsche and luxury MPV used by his son during the incident. Prime Minister Najib Razak must make good his promises of reform and clean government by ordering Nazri to make a full declaration of his assets.

It has become standard practice for the police to rush to the defence of BN leaders or their relatives who are suspected of crimes. Just before the UMNO AGM in December 2011, DIGP Datuk Khalid Bakar had issued a statement clearing the NFC of wrongdoing even though investigations were not yet complete.

Eventually, due to public pressure, the husband of cabinet minister Sharizat was charged for CBT over the NFC fiasco.This pro-BN conduct of the police leadership has resulted in massive public loss of confidence in the police force. We call upon the IGP to form a special investigation team to further investigate this assault case involving a top minister's son. The AG must also exercise his powers to direct the police to carry our further investigations.

N SURENDRAN IS THE VICE PRESIDENT OF PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT