Gobind demands police act on missing five

Gobind expressed puzzlement over the police’s lack of alacrity in the matter. — Picture by Jack Ooi

PUCHONG, June 18 — The police must clarify if five men who were snatched off the streets of Seri Kembangan by armed men two and a half months ago are in their custody, Puchong MP Gobind Singh said today.


He said the police have been silent on whether the five, believed to have been seized by men with guns and handcuffs from the car park of Jusco in Equine Park on April 4, were arrested or kidnapped despite repeated requests.

Gobind pointed out that the police have made no headway into the case even after the families of the men — Ari Kumar Manyam, Jayasingam Gopal, Madhan Nadarajah, Dlipan Palanivel and Gobi Krishna Ramasamy — lodged two reports and handed them evidence the families had gathered themselves.

Gobind holds up one of two police reports lodged by the men’s families.

These included photos of the alleged kidnappers taken from the Slim River toll plaza, closed-circuit television footage of Ari Kumar’s car being driven by an unknown person and a “90 per cent intact” fingerprint found on the vehicle, which was later found abandoned with fake licence plates.


A friend of Madhan’s family, who declined to be named, also revealed that Ari Kumar’s family has received several phone calls from the alleged kidnappers demanding RM1 million in ransom, including one from an Indian man and another from someone who “sounded Indonesian”.

Gobind stressed that he was “not casting aspersions on anyone” but said it was hard to believe the police were dragging their feet given that it involved issues of public safety.

“What happened to these five could happen to anyone one of us,” he told reporters at his service centre here.

Gobind said he will march on Bukit Aman police headquarters together with Seri Kembangan residents next week to hand in a memorandum to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) if the police remain unresponsive.

He added that he will bring the matter up with Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein during the current Parliament sitting.

“The home minister has to be made aware of this problem,” Gobind said.