Cops under probe for protecting fugitive

BY LOURDES CHARLES AND NELSON BENJAMIN
KUALA LUMPUR: More than a dozen police personnel, including a senior officer, are under investigation following allegations that they had protected top fugitive Michael Soosai, who was reported to have faked his own death.
A task force, headed by a Senior Assistant Commissioner, has been set up by Bukit Aman to investigate the claims, which were posted on an Internet website.
It is learnt that the officers being investigated – from the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur contingents, and Bukit Aman itself – have been called up to explain.
The website, believed to have originated from Kolkatta in India, also has scanned copies of police reports, purportedly from the files of the senior investigating officer in the current investigations.
The website reveals the identities of the police officers under investigation, and how they had supposedly gained from protecting Soosai.
The writer stated how a former OCPD in Selangor had purportedly protected Soosai in several alleged criminal cases, and also how influential Soosai was in that district.
The writer also claimed that Soosai had convinced the Kajang police to reclassify or classify cases involving his friends.
Soosai, wanted in connection with 17 criminal cases since the 1980s, allegedly faked his own death two years ago.
Acting Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Musa Hassan said he wanted to get to the bottom of the matter and stressed that there would be no cover up.
Sources said investigations were also being carried out to ascertain whether the website was created by Soosai to “derail” on-going investigations after police started arresting his family members, including his wife and mother.
“He is an avid writer, and has written at least two books, including a dictionary, using pseudonyms,” said a source.
A copy of one of his books, a 228-page Malay-English dictionary, made available to The Star, contained the names of several police officers mentioned on the website. Besides policemen, several politicians also penned forewords in the book.
Soosai was also said to be so influential that when he was arrested, he got many officers from a commercial crime unit transferred by making allegations against them, the source said.
Even a task force formed to track down Soosai early this year has not been spared, with reports being lodged against the team members for alleged assault, bribery and theft.
The team, headed by deputy CID director Senior Asst Comm Datuk Mokhtar Hassan, arrested seven people in connection with the case.
Four people – Soosai’s wife, a former attendant at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, a businessman and another man – have been charged in connection with his
purported death.
Investigations into the “resurrection” of Soosai began when a Malaysian, N. Subramaniam, was found murdered in south India in December.
Subramaniam had gone to India with his wife Palli Pillamah after being told that they had won an all-expense paid trip.
On arrival, they were garlanded by a welcoming party and whisked off in separate cars.
Palli reached the hotel but Subramaniam failed to show up. His body was found eight days later.
Palli lodged a report claiming that Soosai, who had forgery charges against him withdrawn when he was reported to have “died” two years ago, had murdered her husband.

Star 16/6/2005