Get out, cops are coming!’

Workers at an illegal gambling outlet are being tipped off by policemen on impending raids, claims a crime fighter.

PETALING JAYA: “Everyone get out, the police will be here in four minutes!”

Knowing that a raid was imminent, workers at the Simpang Pertang illegal gambling centre hastily ushered their customers out and planted damaged computers for the police to seize.

Within minutes, a police patrol car entered the area, made three rounds without stopping or braking, and left empty-handed.

Relating this incident to FMT was MyWatch chief R Sri Sanjeevan, who, disguised as a customer at these outlets, had tipped off Bukit Aman that the outlets were still operating illegally.

But his efforts were foiled as a police officer from the nearby police station allegedly alerted the outlets’ workers of the raid.

“I was undercover at one of the outlets and called Bukit Aman at 10.31pm to tip them off that the outlets were still operating,” said Sanjeevan.

Last Thursday, Negeri Sembilan police announced they had set up a team to investigate Sanjeevan’s claims that an officer had threatened to shoot him for exposing illegal activities in the area.

State CID chief ACP Hamdan Majid had also denied the MyWatch chief’s claim that police were protecting the illegal gambling centres, pointing out that 232 raids were carried out since 2011

Nothing has changed

But according to Sanjeevan, an undercover trip to the outlets the following night revealed that nothing had changed.

Aside from the fact that the workers were warned in advance, he expressed disgust over the apparently half-hearted method in which the police ultimately conducted the raid.

“A police car went one round around the shop lots, then a second round, then a third round – without stopping or even braking. They took a short cruise, then left,” he recalled.

He said that after the “raid”, a uniformed policeman entered the shop and told the workers that they could resume operations.

“It’s very clear to me now that the police are business partners of this illegal syndicates. The whole syndicate is run by ex-policemen,” he added.

Sanjeevan said he immediately informed Hamdan what had transpired and demanded that the ACP take action.

“I told him the culprit is inside the force and asked him why he was still protecting those guilty in the Jelebu police force.

“Hamdan told reporters that they had conducted hundreds of raids on this area since 2011, but why are these outlets still operating?” said Sanjeevan.

He was referring to a Bernama report in which Hamdan refuted the MyWatch chief’s claims that the local police had done nothing to stop the illegal gambling syndicate in Simpang Pertang.

Hamdan had said that 66 raids were carried out in 2011, 154 in 2012 and 12 in January.

But according to Sanjeevan, several police officers from Negeri Sembilan had told him that those who arrested parties involved in the illegal gambling syndicates were transferred within a month.

“It’s an internal transfer. That means the culprit is sitting up in the IPK Negeri Sembilan,” he claimed, referring to the state’s police contingent headquarters.

“So I am urging the Inspector-General of Police and Deputy Inspector-General of Police [DIG] to remove Hamdan if he is not doing his job,” said Sanjeevan.

‘Police trying to nail me’

Sanjeevan also accused the police of harassing him and his companions.

“Before I called up Bukit Aman that night, I first called Hamdan to tell him that the gambling outlets were still operating. But he told me that if the police raided the area and I was inside, they would arrest me,” he said.

“I told him ‘don’t you know how to protect a whistleblower? I’m giving you information that could lead to an arrest, but you want to put me in lock-up!’” he added.

Sanjeevan claimed that Hamdan had also said that the police could not immediately raid the area as they needed time to plan.

“I said to him ‘I give you information, you plan, and by the time you come, the outlets close’. As usual, he protects his people,” he said.

A frustrated Sanjeevan turned to Bukit Aman instead, and the so-called “raid” was carried out an hour later.

“After the raid was over, Hamdan called me up and demanded ‘why did you call Bukit Aman? Don’t you trust me?’”

“I told him ‘yes, I don’t trust you. You told me you were going to arrest me, despite me being a whistleblower. How am I supposed to trust you?’” he said.

According to Sanjeevan, Hamdan had said that if he was sitting in the outlet, police would consider him as a gambler and have no choice but to arrest him.

“If it was one of their cops on stakeout, then they wouldn’t even think of arresting him. So it’s obvious they’re trying to nail me,” he claimed.

He also said that if the Negeri Sembilan police were serious about combating the illegal gambling syndicates there, they would have contacted MyWatch to obtain all the information.

“Give us one or two officers to assist us. I can give information on the area, they can conduct the raids,” he suggested.

“But instead, they look at us as if we are interfering in their work. I even texted DIG Khalid Abu Bakar before going to the area, but he didn’t reply,” Sanjeevan revealed.