Cop says 'forbidden' from joining ops after probing Wang Kelian tip-off

WANG KELIAN RCI | A now retired police commander has revealed that he had been tipped off about the involvement of Malaysians in a human trafficking syndicate operating at the Thai-Malaysian border in Wang Kelian, Perlis back in 2015.

But after investigating the tip-off and informing his higher-ups about what he had found, the commander claimed he had been “forbidden” to go on any more police operations to the area right up until he left the force.

Testifying before the Wang Kelian Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) today, DSP T Sivaganam (above) recounted how an anonymous man had phoned him on Jan 20, 2015, claiming that Wang Kelian kampung folk were helping traffickers to “transport” undocumented migrants into Malaysia through the border.

The caller further claimed to have been approached with a job offer by the middle-person in the arrangement, whom Sivaganam said was named either “Azis or Azim”.

The caller had also claimed that the middle-person in question had assured him that “everyone had been taken care of”.

This phone call occurred one day after Sivaganam’s officers had discovered human camps, albeit almost empty, deep in the Wang Kelian jungles.

Sivaganam told the panel that after receiving the call, he travelled to the town and identified the said middle-person, but did not investigate further the claims that he was involved in a human trafficking syndicate.

The police commander then compiled an incident report and submitted it to his superiors, as well as to the Perlis and Kedah police chiefs for further action.

“I didn’t have the manpower to launch further investigations,” Sivaganam explained to the panel.

Two months later, in March 2015, he claimed he was told by his own commander, Northern Brigade Commander Mohammad Nasir Ramli, that he had been barred from joining any more operations to Wang Kelian.

“The commander instructed me not to go for another operation. Until I retired, I never went on any operation,” he said.

Sivaganam retired in July 2016.

[More to follow]  - mkini