Crime & Courts

IGP: Remaining GISB members under Sosma detention could face charges too

PUTRAJAYA: Police are still conducting further investigations on more than 30 GISB Holdings (GISB) members who are currently detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma)

These members, he said, have yet to be charged in court.

Razarudin said to date, 22 GISB members have been charged including its chief executive officer.

"All I can say is that we have detained around 60 of them (GISB members) under Sosma. After dealing with the Attorney-General's Chambers and with the statements we have, he managed to charge 22 people.

"The remainder (detained under Sosma), who we have yet to fully investigate, will have their periods (of detention) extended," he told reporters when met after attending the Home Ministry's monthly gathering here today.

The ministry's monthly assembly was officiated by its chief secretary Datuk Awang Alik Jeman.

Asked whether the remaining GISB members being detained would be charged in court, Razarudin said it was a possibility.

"It's possible (they will also be charged). We are also still tracking down more members," he said.

Earlier today, GISB CEO Datuk Nasiruddin Mohd Ali and 21 others were charged at the Selayang Sessions Court with being members of an organised criminal group.

Also charged were Nasiruddin's wife Datin Azura Md Yusof Hasnan, 57; and Mohammad Adib At-Tamimi, 32, who is the son of the late Al Arqam founder, Ashaari Muhammad.

GISB came into the public eye last month when police launched a series of raids under Op Global on 20 welfare homes run by the company.

Police had rescued more than 400 children, aged between one and 17, who were believed to have been exploited and abused.

Razarudin said the group had been on the police watch list since 2011, and that the raids were the culmination of a six-month probe to gather intelligence, build a case, and formulate an action plan.

He said investigations suggested that some of the children had been sodomised.

The group was also being probed for forced labour, with the victims' ages ranging between 14 and 20.

The incidences of forced labour allegedly took place in Miri, Sarawak; Rawang, Selangor; and Alor Setar, Kedah between 2013 and this year.

GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd has since denied the allegations.

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