ANN/THE STAR – Some 39 more care homes believed to be linked to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings are under police observation in the course of the investigation into allegations of child exploitation and abuse.
Malaysian Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said the care homes are all over the country. “The care homes are on our radar. We are not ruling out the possibility of further action being taken following the raids conducted on Wednesday,” he said when contacted on Saturday.
The Inspector-General explained that the raids on 20 care homes on Wednesday in the operation codenamed Ops Global was the culmination of a six-month investigation.
“We have been investigating the company since 2011, even before allegations against it were made on social media. I met the representatives of the Research Centre for Deviant Teachings (Pukas) six months ago,” he said.
“They were the ones who passed us the initial information that facilitated the revisit of various police reports lodged against the company,” added Razarudin.
He said that one of the police reports was lodged by a female former GISB member from Negri Sembilan, who retracted the report. “We contacted the woman and she later lodged a fresh report and we opened investigations under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act,” he said.
The former member also gave the police credible leads, Razarudin said. “It allowed us to conduct Ops Global, spearheaded by the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Special Branch Department,” said Razarudin.
“Officers from both departments were essential in gathering intelligence and building a case. I was briefed on their findings two days prior to the raids in Selangor and Negri Sembilan,” he said.
The inspector-general also refuted claims that the police delayed in taking action on the police reports lodged against Global Ikhwan. “We made the arrests after we received credible leads that enabled such action to be made,” he said.
He urged those who have been victimised by centres or organisations believed to be linked to Global Ikhwan to come forward and lodge police reports.
“We also urge former members to come forward to assist the ongoing investigations,” he said.
On Sept 11, police rescued 402 children comprising 201 boys and 201 girls aged between one and 17, from the 20 care homes in Selangor and Negri Sembilan in a rescue operation codenamed Ops Global.
A total of 171 suspects aged between 17 and 64 were arrested, including a teacher and dorm caretakers.
Meanwhile, Razarudin said the source of funding for the care centres is being investigated by Bukit Aman.
Apart from investigating possible trafficking in persons offences, the police are investigating the donors, he said. “We believe the care centres had other sponsors. There are also old folks homes which received funds from GISB and other sources,” he told a press conference at the Police Training Centre (Pulapol).
Razarudin had not ruled out the possibility of summoning the company’s top management.
However, he said investigations into the care centres associated with the company are still in the early stage.
“We are conducting the investigation in a transparent and fair manner,” he added.
Recently, a man was detained for issuing threats against a woman who had lodged police reports prior to the start of Ops Global, Razarudin said.
“She was threatened and told to withdraw her police reports,” he added.
He also refuted claims that the rescued children were not allowed to perform prayers.
“They are allowed to do so. They take turns (to pray) under police surveillance for their safety. “It is nonsense to say that we do not let them pray. In fact, they are placed here (at Pulapol), which has a mosque,” he said.
He was commenting on a viral video of an individual believed to be from GISB, who claimed that the victims were not allowed to pray.
