KUALA LUMPUR: Ten men today claimed trial at the High Court to charges of being members of an organised crime group.
Datuk K. Elumalai, 43; K. Puvendran, 29; M. Kishok Kumar, 26; R. Ganabathy, 31; R. Shamuga Nathan, 38; S. Jeeva, 27; S. Rajandran, 40; M. Suresh, 40; Law Koon Ping, 44 and S. Elango, 26, are alleged to be members of 'Geng 21 Japan' at the Iskandar Development Region in Johor, between Jan 18 and Aug 19, 2015.
The offence falls under Section 130V of the Penal Code for being a member of an organised criminal group, which carries a maximum 20 years’ jail term, upon conviction.
Ganabathy and Shamuga Nathan are brothers.
The police had said last year that this case was the first of its kind since organised crime was put under the purview of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 or Sosma.
The men are represented by Tania Sceveti, R.K Menon, G.K. Sritharan, Anwar Raof, Mohd Hazrin Aliff Wahab and M. Manoharan while deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalam acted for the prosecution.
Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah fixed April 14 for case mention.