PETALING JAYA: A 56-year-old police inspector was among seven people who were arrested over the abduction of a Bangladeshi businessman in Seremban last week.
It is believed that the inspector, who is attached to a district police headquarters in Perak, had allegedly aided the foreigners with the abduction.
The victim, who is in his 30s, was snatched from his home in Bandar Sri Sendayan by two men, also Bangladeshis, in the evening of Jan 10 following an altercation with them over a debt he owed a group of foreigners related to the processing of immigration documents.
Sources said the victim was then taken to an unknown location within the district before he was allegedly assaulted by the foreigners who demanded RM25,000 from him.
The victim’s younger brother, who was in Kuala Lumpur, lodged a police report after he caught wind of the abduction.
Seremban police sprang into action and within hours several foreigners were arrested and the victim was rescued.
Last Friday, in a follow-up operation, a police team from the Negri Sembilan serious crimes division arrested the police inspector at his office in Perak.
Seremban police chief Asst Comm Arifai Tarawe told The Star yesterday that the inspector and six Bangladeshi suspects are in police custody under a remand order.
He said preliminary findings by investigators revealed that the victim owed several people around RM70,000, which he received to help obtain work visas for foreign workers.
The arrest of the inspector further raises the number of cases of rogue cops being involved in crimes over the past month.
Yesterday, two Ampang Jaya policemen were charged at the Ampang Magistrates’ Court for allegedly raping a foreign student and robbing her boyfriend in Ampang, Selangor last week.
On Monday, a 37-year-old senior police officer who allegedly pushed a 40-year-old woman into the sea from the Penang Bridge is being investigated for attempted murder.
On Sunday, a police station chief from Johor was transferred to another police district after an investigation was opened into a video of him assaulting a man at an undisclosed location, which was circulated on social media.
These cases, among other recent ones, have prompted Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain to warn that police personnel who commit crimes and defile the image of the police force will face severe consequences.
