Langkawi’s chief of police has been accused of receiving money to protect Chinese crime syndicates operating under his jurisdiction from having police action taken against them.
The allegations against Supt Harrith Kam Abdullah were made Malaysian Crime Watch (MyWatch) chairman R Sri Sanjeevan, who said Supt Harrith had ordered investigations on an entertainment centre in Langkawi to be classified as No Further Action (NFA).
“In fact this was to protect the owner of the centre, whose father is also running an illegal gambling syndicate in Langkawi.
“Currently there were five illegal lottery syndicates paying ‘protection money’ to Harrith and they hand the cash to him at his house,” claimed Sanjeevan, as reported by fz.com.
Sanjeevan also alleged that Harrith interfered with the investigation on two men, arrested on suspicion of harbouring 13 illegal Myanmari immigrants in a restaurant.
According to Sanjeevan, Harrith’s intervention resulted in the suspects being granted release on bail within 24 hours of their arrest, despite an ongoing investigation at the time.
Harrith denied the allegations levelled against him and stressed that he had never accepted bribes in return for deferring police action. He maintained that all of his actions have been in accordance to the law.
He added that he had no relations with any of the owners of the entertainment centres in question.
“I have no idea who they are,” he said.
Harrith also responded to the second allegation, and said the men detained both had legitimate documentation and could not prove they were working in the restaurant in question.
Sanjeevan says he will lodge a report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) this week. He also said he had brought the matter to the attention of Kedah state police chief Datuk Ahmad Ibrahim, but no action was taken.
“Let MACC do their job. Let them investigate whether the officer has any relations with the people mentioned,” he added.
He also called for Ahmad to be included in the MACC investigation.
