Malaysians detained in Cambodia: Cops to record statements of victims
SHAH ALAM: Forty- seven Malaysian citizens, who were prior to this detained at a prison in the Banteay Meanchey region, in Cambodia, will be called as soon possible for their statements to be taken, said Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim.
He said preliminary investigations by police found there was a criminal element in the case and investigations were opened under Section 26 of the AntiTrafficking in Persons and AntiSmuggling of Migrants 2007.
“First and foremost, we want to know the actual story. How the (victims) involved were taken to Cambodia. What was promised by the company offering the jobs to them.
“We want to see whether elements of cheating or deception existed...what were promised to the victims, did the company involved fulfi lled its promises in terms of accommodation, facilities and others,’’ he told reporters after attending a Selangor Police Contingent Headquarters ‘Pingat Jasa Pahlawan Negara’ awards conferring ceremony to 318 police officers here yesterday.
He said this when commenting o n the s t atement by the Sarawak Commercial CID chief Superintendent Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdul lah that pol ice had identified a local who was suspected to be involved with the employment cheating syndicate following the detentions of the 47 Malaysians in Cambodia.
Mustafa Kamal was reported to have said that the police were hot on the heels of suspects after eight police reports were received to date.
Forty-three of the 47 Malaysians who were freed by the Cambodian authorities, namely, 40 from Sarawak and three from Sabah, arrived at the Kuching International Airport on Sunday.
Meanwhile, four more, namely, three from Selangor and one from Kuala Lumpur, were taken home aboard an airAsia flight from the Seam Reap Airport and arrived at the KL International Airport 2 ( KLIA2) on the same day.
Commenting further, Noor Rashid said if what were promised by the company were not fulfilled, then it was a case of human trafficking.
He said preliminary investigation found the possibility of a local syndicate recruiting workers and handing them over to the outside syndicate operating in Cambodia.