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Malaysia wants Bangladesh's clarification on extradition request for 2 businessmen

NIBONG TEBAL: Malaysia has requested Bangladesh to provide a detailed explanation regarding the purpose of its request to extradite two businessmen, Aminul Islam and Ruhul Amin.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Bukit Aman had received an official notification from Bangladesh, but the reason for the extradition was not specified.

He added that the government requires clarification before granting approval for the request.

"I have discussed this with the IGP (Inspector-General of Police) and the Attorney-General, and we need to be clear about the objective (of the extradition) first.

"If it is for investigation purposes, Bangladesh must use the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) channel, and if the purpose is to have these individuals charged in court (in Bangladesh), then they must invoke the extradition process," he said when asked to comment on the status of the extradition request for the two individuals involved.

He said this to reporters after attending the handing over ceremony of the Immigration Detention Depot and Quarters at the Jawi Immigration Depot here today.

It was reported that Bangladesh had made a request to extradite the two businessmen.

This follows accusations that Aminul and Ruhul played key roles in a system allegedly involved in "fraudulent extortion" from victims, as reported by Bloomberg.

On Oct 24, the Bangladesh branch of Interpol wrote to their counterparts in Malaysia stating that the two were accused of subjecting their victims to physical and mental torture.

Aminul and Ruhul have denied the allegations.

Bangladeshi police also requested that Putrajaya temporarily halt the use of software supplied by Bestinet Sdn Bhd, a company linked to Aminul, who is originally from Bangladesh and now a Malaysian citizen.

In a separate development, Saifuddin said his ministry had not received any official reports regarding three Malaysians who allegedly claimed to be "government representatives" in relation to an investigation into money laundering, extortion, and trafficking of Bangladeshi workers.

"We have not received any complaints or reports on this matter. It is only what has been reported in the media there.

"We don't have any information on this issue, and we are only interested in managing (investigating) it if we receive an official report or request from Bangladesh," he said.

Recently, media reports from at least two Bangladesh news portals claimed that the three individuals visited Bangladesh last September as government representatives and provided false information about the investigation.

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