KUALA LUMPUR: Police will summon the top management of the raided welfare homes, including the executive director of GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd, to provide statements.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said their statements would help facilitate further investigations regarding allegations that the company was involved in child exploitation activities, including teaching sexual acts.
He also assured the safety of the children, as they were under police monitoring with support from agencies like the Welfare Department and the Health Ministry.
He said that the children were currently undergoing health screenings, medical evaluations, and documentation processes, which are expected to take seven to 12 days due to the large number of victims.
"The process must follow standard operating procedures (SOPs)," he said when contacted today.
Razarudin urged the public to give the authorities time to complete this process before further action is taken.
"The investigation is being conducted from multiple angles, with 171 individuals, including caretakers, religious teachers, and chairpersons from welfare homes in Hulu Selangor, North Klang, Shah Alam, Sepang, Kajang, Petaling Jaya, and Subang Jaya, arrested and remanded.
"These individuals are being investigated under several laws, including the Child Act 2001, the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 , the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, the Penal Code and other laws,'' he said.
Razarudin said police were also interviewing the 402 children rescued in the raid yesterday.
"We will investigate allegations of sexual assault and sodomy.
"We will also check whether the premises or childcare centres that the children were sent to were licensed or not," he said.
Razarudins comments follow reports that police had raided 20 welfare homes linked to the company yesterday.
He had confirmed that the homes raided were linked to the Global Ikhwan Group.
It was reported that police investigations into some of the welfare homes raided earlier had led to claims of sodomy and abuse against children.
Based on intelligence gathered, police found that some victims were sodomised by their caregivers.
Police also received information that they were also taught the act of sodomy and forced to sodomise other children in the home