54 charged with gangsterism Families crowd courts with some weeping openly
KLANG: A total of 54 people were charged in Selangor and Penang courts under a ring of tight security for allegedly being involved in gang-related activities.
A large number of family members and friends crowded the fourth floor of the Klang Court Complex to watch 32 men and a woman charged with being involved in gangster-related activities.
Mothers, wives and sisters openly wept as they were brought into the Sessions Court handcuffed and shackled.
The 32 men, aged between 23 and 44, were charged under the non-bailable Section 130V (1) of the Penal Code for allegedly being members of an organised criminal group. The lone woman, K. Ponmani, 35, was charged under Section 130W of the Penal Code, which was also non-bailable, for allegedly assisting an organised criminal group.
All 33 were accused of being involved with Gang 24.
Judge Suzana Hussin fixed Sept 14 for the case to be mentioned.
Of the 32 men, L. Gunasegaran, 36, A. Indra Kumar, 32, B. Sivabalan, 35, T. Mogan, 33, A. Thangaraj, 28, M. Mageswaran, 31, M. Sarawanan, 36, P. Chellapan Thibenntaj, 23 and A.Surian, 27, were already in prison and brought to court to be slapped with the charge.
The others charged were K. Parameswaran, 28, V. Mohana Sunder, 38, S. Vijayaraja, 27, P. Vijaya Lingam, 37, K. Uvarajan, 26, R.Thiyagarajan, 31, G. Siva, 35, M. Nagendran, 36, G. Murali, 35, P. Ravi, 37, C. Vellasamy, 38, S. Bubalan, 44, Tan Jian Bin, 30, S.Puvaneswaran, 33, M.Sugumaran 32, Mohammad Jamal Abdullah 29, R. Jigentan, 30, M. Baskaran, 31, K. Purusothman, 38, R. Karthigeyan,28, K. Sritheran, 37, P. Krishna,32, and R. Gajenaran, 26.
Four other men S. Tamilmani, 28, S. Arikrishnan, 29, R. Mugilan, 30, and N. Tharmarajah, 34, were not charged and released on police bail.
In George Town, 19 men and a teenager aged between 17 and 57 were charged in a Sessions Court here with being members of an organised crime group Gang 04.
They were S. Somasundram, 34, E. Vimaleshwar, 26, R. M. Balakrishnan, 56, R. Jeegendran, 37, G.T. Thinagaraju, 29, S. Thannimalai, 35, K. Murali, 33, G.G. Prabakaran, 39, G. Selvarajoo, 57, A.D. David Charles, 21, G. Devathirran, 23, K. Janagan Nair, 17, K. Gogulan Nair, 23, S. George Sabastian, 23, L. Luke Stevenson, 41, S. Ragindran, 57, S. Manivenam, 42, S. Gunaseelan, 35, P. Muneesparan, 50, and S. Pavithren, 23.
Another accused, B. Kannan, 47, was charged at the Penang Hospital as he was receiving treatment for epilepsy.
They were charged with becoming members of the group in the northeast district here between Jan 1, 2015 and July 29 this year.
The charge was read before judge Norsalha Hamzah, who fixed Sept 14 for mention.