Cheras Umno accuses Shahrizat's aides of 'assault'

After calling for the resignation of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Cheras Umno now demands the minister take responsibility for an incident allegedly caused by her aides.

In a blog posting yesterday, Cheras Umno division deputy chief Mahdi Abdul Shukor alleged that two of Shahrizat’s aides had gone to their office with a group of women representing a NGO to submit a memorandum.

The memorandum was over anearlier comment by division chief Syed Ali Alhabsee (right) in asking Shahrizat’s husband Mohamad Salleh Ismail to come clean on the controversy surrounding the cattle farming project, National Feedlot Corporation (NFC).

“Instead, they start creating chaos and hurling foul words. Cheras Umno regrets that the group, which pretended to be from a NGO, had created chaos and tried to assault (Syed Ali),” said Mahdi.

According to Mahdi, the group had approached Syed Ali at around 2pm last Thursday with a copy of the latter’s media statement, which they then tore up.

“The situation got tense when one of them behaved rudely and tried to assault Syed Ali, but they were prevented from doing so. However, Syed Ali’s shirt button fell off after they pulled him,” he said.

Cheras Umno calls police

Mahdi said that the representatives were upset over the division’s comment against Shahrizat and her family-run National Feedlot Corporation that manages NFC.

He said the group left the office after one of Cheras Umno staff called the police.

Shahrizat has come under attack after her family was accused of abusing a government soft loan of RM250 million to NFC on unrelated expenses and purchases.

The scandal was sparked by the Auditor-General’s Report, released in October, which noted that NFC’s accounts were “in a mess”.

The opposition, particularly PKR, has since produced documents revealing that NFC’s sister company, National Livestock and Meats Corporation (NLMC), had used RM181 million of the soft loan to purchase, among others, two luxury condominium units, prime land in Putrajaya and a luxury car as well as trips overseas.

The police, following a preliminary probe into the company’s management of the fund, however said they have yet to detect any criminal breach of trust.