Embattled Bandar Tun Razak Umno division chief Rizalman Mokhtar told his division deputies last night that he was the target of an elaborate plot to engineer his political downfall.
In a video uploaded by former division secretary Zaharin Mohd Yasin, Rizalman is seen explaining to senior division members the circumstances of his arrest at a nightclub on Monday morning and subsequent accusations of drug abuse which he said were highly suspect.
Recalling how the drama unfolded, Rizalman said he had arrived at the nightspot at about 11.30pm after receiving an impromptu invitation from a friend for a karaoke session there.
“At about 2 am, the room was suddenly ambushed by MACC and police personnel. They only targetted our room. It was not a (major) operation where they went from room to room. They went straight for Room 202.
“They asked for our identity cards and wanted to know what we were drinking. We were then brought to the police station. All this happened in 15 minutes,” he said.
‘They watched me pee’
At the police station, Rizalman said things got stranger. All 12 detainees were subjected to a urine test supervised by MACC officers.
“Even the police said this had never happened before. It was difficult to take a leak. I was flanked left and right,” he said.
He said his urine sample was the last to be processed.
“When my initial results came back positive for drug use, they (the MACC personnel) left. All five of them.
“Police told me ‘ini diluar kebiasaan’ (this type of procedure is unusual),” he said.
Attempts to contact MACC chief Dzulkifli Ahmad and his deputy Azam Baki today for a response to Rizalman’s allegations have been unsuccessful.
In the video clip, Rizalman told his audience that he can only be considered guilty if the final lab results came back positive.
He also claimed that news about his arrest and the drug-screening results were already being shared at 6 am on Monday morning.
“I believe all this is part of a highly-organised game plan. They are using every resource available. My crime is just being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
“The goal is to soil and tarnish my name, to reduce our chance (in the elections),” he said.
Rizalman has been lobbying for the BN leadership to compel MCA to make way for Umno in the Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seat.
‘I will face the press’
Rizalman told his division downline that despite the allegations levelled against him, he would hold a press conference to clear the air which was done today.
“I need to face the reporters and not hide behind a (written) press release,” he said.
Throughout his explanation to his division last night and to the press today, Rizalman refused to point fingers as to who were the likely saboteurs.
Rizalman said he and his group had only consumed 3-in-1 Nescafe coffee or soft drinks during their time at the nightspot.
He stressed that he did not do drugs.
Over the years, Rizalman, a military man turned businessman, has built up a credible resume which lists him as being on the board of several GLCs besides heading the Cheras Drug Rehabilitation Committee.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi merely referred to the cops when asked about Bandar Tun Razak Umno chief Rizalman Mokhtar’s claim that he was set up in a drug bust.
“The Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department will investigate,” Zahid, who is also Umno’s de facto deputy president, told journalists in Kuala Lumpur today.
Earlier today, Rizalman went public and claimed that he was set up in the drug bust.
Rizalman was on Monday arrested at a nightclub in Kuala Lumpur after testing positive for drugs.
At the press conference this morning, Rizalman expressed puzzlement at why the MACC was involved in the drug bust and claimed authorities did not raid the club but directly went to his room.
Rizalman, who had lobbied for the Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seat to be contested by Umno instead of MCA, is also a potential candidate.
Yesterday, Zahid had said that Rizalman’s arrest would affect BN’s preparation in the constituency.
Zahid last month visited Bandar Tun Razak, where Rizalman apparently upstaged the MCA candidate, Chew Yin Keen.
Rizalman’s supporters came out in force and chanted his name. Both he and Zahid spoke during the event, but Chew did not.
Police zip lips on Umno division chief’s set-up claim
Police have declined to comment on claims by Bandar Tun Razak Umno chief Rizalman Mokhtar that his purported drug test was a set-up.
Both Dang Wangi district police chief Shaharuddin Abdullah and a higher level police source declined to comment when asked about Rizalman’s allegation.
Earlier today, the Umno leader said that he had not taken any drugs, and was only drinking coffee when he was arrested on Monday.
“If the (chemistry) report was indeed true, that my urine was tested positive (for drug use), then it is a trap to destroy my good name,” he said at a press conference.
He added that the set-up was also meant to spoil his chances of being BN’s candidate for the Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seat.
Rizalman and ten others were picked up at the entertainment outlet during a police raid on April 2.
Shaharudin (photo) had said then that the Umno chief and the others all tested positive for banned substances methamphetamine and amphetamine.
Meanwhile, at a separate event in Kuala Lumpur, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the matter was being looked into by the police narcotics department.
“They will conduct an investigation,” he said briefly before walking off.
Rizalman has refused to speculate on who could have possibly set him up.
He, however, declined to rule out the possibility of being sabotaged by MCA.
MCA had contested the Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seat over five general elections and Rizalman had last year demanded the seat to be given to Umno.
Rizalman was accompanied by his father Mokhtar Samaad and wife Syazlina Bahardin, as well as some 50 supporters at the press conference.
MKINI
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