Bukit Aman to probe alleged victimisation of Nepali guards

Bukit Aman's Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (Jips) will immediately probe an allegation that two Nepali security guards have been victimised by the police stemming from an alleged burglary at a housing estate near Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador said if this is found to be the case, action will be taken against the police personnel involved.

"If it is true, I would surely punish the men involved [...] I have instructed Jips Bukit Aman to investigate immediately," he said.

The incident involving the two Nepalis, aged 37 and 40, was highlighted by veteran journalist R. Nadeswaran in his column which appeared in Malaysiakini titled Foreign workers need protection from the abuse of law.

He narrated that when a police team arrested the two on Oct 21 when their employer was away but when the manager turned up at the guardhouse, he was told that the two were being held on "suspicion of being accessories to a burglary".

Nadeswaran wrote that the alleged burglary had taken place on Oct 16, but a police report was only made three days later on Oct 19. He added that there were no signs of a burglary and no doors or windows were broken.

"The only 'error' the guards seem to have committed is not accurately recording the name and identity card numbers of two strangers who entered the housing estate, now the prime suspects in the case.

"That surely does not constitute an offence, just a procedural error for which the employer would deal with the problem," he said.

Nadeswaran said the employer and a Nepali embassy official went to the Nilai police station on Oct 24 to hand over the guards' passports but were told that they were being held at a police lock-up in another location.

"The investigating officer said that he would only decide on their fate the following Tuesday as Monday (Oct 28) was a public holiday," he wrote.

Nadeswaran said the two guards ended up spending eight nights, including Deepavali, in the police lock-up for no reason and were released on Wednesday tanpa syarat (with no conditions).

He wrote: "Eight nights in the lock-up for an offence they had nothing to do with is unjustifiable."

"They were neither involved in the burglary nor committed any immigration offence. The police will have a lot of explaining to do," he added. - Bernama