Athi Shankar - Free Malaysia TodayGEORGE TOWN: Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan must explain what the police have been doing for the past 36 years concerning their probe into the assassination of former top cop Abdul Rahman Hashim.
DAP stalwart Karpal Singh said the current IGP owed an explanation to the public given that his recent statement contradicted that of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
He pointed out that Musa claimed that the case was closed as two members of the Parti Komunis Malaya allegedly responsible for Abdul Rahman’s murder on June 7, 1974, were arrested.
Musa was referring to Lim Woon Chong and Ng Foo Nam, who were jointly charged for the murder that took place in Kuala Lumpur.
However, Najib commented that it would be difficult to unearth new evidence in the case because it happened nearly four decades ago.
Picking on this contradiction, Karpal said: “Musa claimed that the cased was closed but Najib thinks otherwise. Najib believes that Lim and Ng were not responsible.”
“Musa owes the public an explanation on what the police have been doing for the past 36 years," he told a press conference in Air Itam here today.
He indicated that Musa must also disclose the findings of police investigations into the murder mystery.
Nazri's "no comments" irks Karpal
Karpal pointed out that both Lim and Ng were acquitted and discharged after they categorically denied any involvement in the assassination. The prosecution had also withdrawn the case.
Lim and Ng were also jointly charged for the murder of then Perak police chief Khoo Chong Kong and his driver Sgt Yeong Peng Chong in Ipoh on Nov 13, 1975.
They were found guilty by the Ipoh High Court on March 22, 1978 and were hanged in Pudu Jail in early 1980s.
Karpal, who was the defence counsel for Lim, said that the prosecution withdrew the murder charge on his client before he was executed for Khoo’s murder.
“My client admitted to Khoo’s murder but not Abdul Rahman's,” he said.
Abdul Rahman’s assassination re-generated public interest when the tragedy was recollected in an artile penned by Abdul Rahman's son, retired Berita Harian journalist Najib Rahman. The article appeared in the New Straits Times on June 6.
Abdul Rahman was gunned down by two snipers in broad daylight alsong Lorong Raja Chulan in the backseat of his car while he was on his way to work.
Karpal has raised the subject three times in Parliament in 2004 and again last Tuesday during the debate on the 10th Malaysia Plan.
He rebuked Minister in Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, who initially announced that the government would re-look the case, for merely replying “no comment” to journalists' when quizzed on the matter for the past fortnight.
“The IGP is the highest ranking police officer, but to date, no one has ever been detained or tried for his murder,” said the veteran politician and MP.
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