IGP: Babies for sale not rampant

> M’sian Al Jazeera journalist quizzed over documentary on issue

KUALA LUMPUR: Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar yesterday denied that the sale of babies in Malaysia is rampant, as portrayed by international television station, Al Jazeera.

He said police have recorded a statement from the Al Jazeera journalist involved in the production of the documentary titled Malaysia: Baby For Sale, which the station broadcast recently.

“Police contacted the journalist, a local, the same day the documentary was aired,” he said.

Speaking to reporters after attending a Koperasi Polis Diraja Malaysia event at the Bukit Aman police headquarters here yesterday, Khalid said police will also seek the cooperation of the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and the Health Ministry if the need arises.

“We will keep in touch with the relevant ministries to ascertain if they have received reports on the baby-selling racket in Malaysia,” he said, adding that the documentary was a serious allegation and it did not portray the real situation.

Meanwhile in KLANG, police raided five clinics in Selangor and Negri Sembilan yesterday over investigations into the alleged sale of babies, Bernama reported.

Four of the clinics were in Selangor – two in Klang and one each in Tanjung Sepat and Sepang – and one in Negri Sembilan, in an operation dubbed “Ops Baby”, said a police spokesman. He said a maternity clinic and a general clinic were raided in Klang at about 3pm by a team from Bukit Aman’s AntiTrafficking in Persons and AntiSmuggling of Migrants Unit.

Police seized several documents but no arrests were made.