KUANTAN:Police rescued 402 minors from alleged exploitation in a major operation across two states today, codenamed Op Global.
The victims, aged between one and 17, were allegedly exploited at 20 welfare homes in Selangor and Negri Sembilan.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said the victims, who were locals, had endured various forms of exploitation and abuse including being sodomised.
The 201 boys and 201 girls from 18 charity homes in Selangor and two in Negri Sembilan were rescued between 6am and 11am.
"The simultaneous raids at the charity homes at both states led to the arrest of 171 individuals including caretakers, ustaz (religious teachers) and the chairmen of the premises. Police arrested 66 men and 105 female suspects aged between 17 and 64-years-old.
Razarudin said the operations were conducted at seven districts in Selangor namely Hulu Selangor with six premises raided, Klang Utara (four premises), Shah Alam (two), Sepang (two), Kajang (two), Petaling (one) and Subang Jaya (one) while two in Negri Sembilan namely one each in Seremban and Nilai.
"We arrested 167 individuals at the 18 premises in Selangor and four individuals in Negeri Sembilan," he said.
"All the rescued victims will undergo health screening before being taken to the Kuala Lumpur police training centre for the documentation process.
"Initial investigations revealed the victims were not only sodomised by the caretakers, but also taught to perform similar acts on the other children at the home," he said.
The victims allegedly suffered punishment with heated metal objects and inappropriate touching under the guise of religious medical treatment, Razarudin said.
"They were punished using heated metal objects when the victims commit mistakes and the suspects touched the victim's body parts by claiming it was part of the religious medical treatment," he told reporters during a press conference at the Pahang police contingent headquarters here today.
Razarudin said the suspects are being investigated under the Child Act 2001, Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 and Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.
Meanwhile, Razarudin said the major operation today followed a police report on Sept 2 of alleged child exploitation, sexual abuse and molest against children in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan.
"Police opened eight investigation papers in Negri Sembilan and Selangor. The four investigation papers opened in Neeri Sembilan have been referred to the Attorney-General's Chambers and we have received instruction to charge one of the investigation papers under Section 31 (1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.
"Six individuals including women in their 20s and 40s were picked in Negri Sembilan. The suspects, including the hostel warden, the centre's chairman and religious teachers have been remanded till Sept 15 to facilitate investigations.
"Investigations revealed a company dealing with Muslim products was involved in human trafficking before a police report was lodged in Shah Alam, Selangor. Police intelligence led to "Op Global" today," he said.
Razarudin said 'Op Global' involved 705 policemen and officers along with 287 staff from other agencies including the Welfare and health department.
He said from 2011 to Sept 7 this year, a total of 41 police reports have been filed against the company.