Lawyers and allies do not know where Jamal has gone

PETALING JAYA: More than 24 hours after his vanishing act, even the lawyers and allies of Sungai Besar Umno division chief Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos are clueless as to his whereabouts.

“I am still trying to contact him and his acquaintances,” Datuk Mohd Imran Tamrin, a lawyer representing his legal team, said.

Selangor CID chief Senior Asst Comm Fadzil Ahmat told The Star that he has yet to be located.

“Members of the public with any information regarding his whereabouts are urged to contact the police immediately,” he said.

The manhunt for Jamal, under the codename Ops Tutup, is ongoing, he said, adding that the Immigration Department has also been notified of the case.

Checks at Jamal’s home in Ampang yesterday showed a very quiet place. It is believed that only a housekeeper and gardener were seen at one point.

The maverick politician, who was hospitalised at the Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital’s premium ward for back pain, had been under police remand over a firearm case.

On Friday morning, he was charged at the hospital ward before magistrate Raja Noor Adilla Raja Mahyaldin with committing public nuisance by smashing bottles of alcohol in front of a building last year in a protest against the Better Beer Festival.

Jamal, who pleaded not guilty, was granted RM3,000 bail.

But by Friday afternoon, he vanished even before the bail was processed.

In a statement yesterday, Mohd Imran advised Jamal, 48, to present himself to the police.

However, he believes that Jamal had not intended to commit any crime, including running away from custody.

“I believe that there might be some ‘ miscommunication’ between him and us about the process as this is the first time he has been charged outside the courts. I worry that he might have been under some trauma or felt pressured,” he added.

Recounting the events that happened on Friday, Mohd Imram said:

“On May 25, while we (the legal team) were assisting the bail process for Datuk Seri Jamal over charges which were read to him at the hospital during the morning, we realised that he had left the ward before it was completed.

“We failed to locate him to complete the process yesterday (Friday) afternoon,” he said in the statement.

Subsequently, he said the legal team went to the Ampang Jaya police headquarters to assist the police in locating Jamal.