KUALA LUMPUR: The federal police are working with their counterpart in Perak to determine how and when Chin Peng's ashes were brought into the country from Thailand.
Federal Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Huzir Mohamed said based on initial investigation, it was learnt that a group of people were involved, and the ashes were scattered at two separate locations - Banjaran Titiwangsa & Lumut sea in Perak, to fulfil the former Malayan Communist Party secretary-general’s last wish.
According to Huzir, it was not clear whether the ashes were brought in legally or otherwise.
“We are gathering the necessary information from our officers in Perak," he said.
"This act of 'smuggling' in the ashes on Malaysia Day has raised public concerns and caused a lot of distress since Chin Peng was a strong Communist ideologist back in the days.
“The move could also possibly cause disharmony among Malaysians."
“This was not supposed to happen, and we are investigating,' he added.
“We will establish how the ashes were brought into the country, which route or mode of transportation was used,” he told reporters here today.
A media portal reported Chin Peng’s ashes arrived in Perak on Sept 16, six years after his death.
The report cited Chan Kan Fook, 81, as the coordinator of the group managing the ashes.
It claimed that a simple customary rights ceremony was held in Ipoh on the same day, and attended by more than 150 people.
Chin Peng or his real name Ong Boon Hua was born in Sitiawan, Perak, in 1924 and has lived in exile in Thailand since the Hat Yai Peace Agreement 1989.
According to a Thai media report, he died at the age of 90 on Sept 30, 2013, at a hospital in Bangkok.
On Sept 30, 2009, the Kuala Lumpur High Court struck out a civil suit filed by Chin Peng against the Malaysian government for alleged defamation.
His family's subsequent request to bury him in Malaysia was also rejected by the court.
Huzir said the case was being investigated under Section 504 and Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.