Two resident representatives denied claims that they demanded “protection money” from a business, insisting their official visit to a massage parlour was to gather information following public complaints.
The duo, who are part of the Federal Territory Residents Representative Council, said they paid a “routine monitoring” visit to the massage parlour at Wisma Setapak on March 24.
This was over complaints from community members who voiced concerns that the premises might be conducting its business illegally, they said.
Council deputy chairperson for Sub-Zone 2 in Wangsa Maju, R Vijeyndran, and council chairperson for Sub-Zone 6 in Wangsa Maju, G Paarthiydasan, have also filed police reports against a CCTV video clip of them at the massage parlour.
Speaking with Malaysiakini, the pair asserted that the “Kelab Penyokong Perikatan Nasional” Facebook account, which uploaded the video on March 25, had malicious intentions and issued slanderous statements against them.
Vijeyndran said the caption for the video, which made the rounds on social media and garnered widespread condemnation, was “wrong”.
The caption claimed that two of the men were Wangsa Maju PKR division committee members and were soliciting payments from the business.
“When we went to the premises, we introduced ourselves as members of the (residents representative council) before making it clear that we were not there to attack them or to take their money.
“We told a staff member at the counter that we were just looking for information and wanted to better understand their business situation,” Vijeyndran said.
Paarthiydasan said the staff member could not provide any relevant information and instead called another individual, believed to be a superior, to whom the duo again relayed their disclaimers on not wanting any funds from the business.
“As residents representative council members, we act as the eyes and ears of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (KLCH). If we want to make a report based on public complaints, we still have to carry out the necessary checks.
“We can’t just file a report with KLCH against a business without first gathering all the required information, because if it turns out that the premises had a valid license, we might be accused of filing a fake report,” Paarthiydasan explained.
Investigation underway
When contacted, Wangsa Maju district police chief Lazim Ismail confirmed receiving the reports filed by the two men yesterday.
In a statement today, Kuala Lumpur police chief Fadil Marsus said the police have received three reports on the case.
He said the case is being investigated under Section 385 of the Penal Code on putting persons in fear of injury in order to commit extortion and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 on improper use of network facilities.
Acting Wangsa Maju PKR chief Azmee Abd Rahim has yet to respond to Malaysiakini’s requests for comments.
Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh called for an investigation into the video.
She affirmed that if the allegations were true, the men would be dismissed from their roles in the council, stressing that there is “no tolerance” for any form of “protection money” or “broker” practices.
In a separate statement, KLCH denied any involvement with the men’s alleged activities, rejecting claims linking it with requests for protection money and abuse of power. - Mkini
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