KUALA LUMPUR: Many of the 402 children rescued from raids on 20 care centres believed to be linked to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB) were left there since they were two years old, says Tan Sri Razarudin Husain.
The Inspector-General of Police said initial investigations found that the children were believed to be third- or fourth-generation GISB members.
"We believe they were left at the care centres since they were two.
"At age two, they were separated from their parents, who went to countries such as Saudi Arabia and Turkiye for up to six years.
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"We believe some of the children have not seen their parents for years.
"We are investigating child abandonment as a possible offence as well," he told a press conference at the Police Training Centre (Pulapol) here on Friday (Sept 13).
He said police were still investigating whether the parents acted on their own accord to leave the children behind, or were ordered to do so by the GISB leadership.
The IGP said some of the rescued children had identification documents while some did not.
"However, we are conducting further screening and interviewing the detained caretakers as well.
"We won't stop until we find the children's documents," he said.
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On Wednesday (Sept 11), police rescued 402 children, comprising 201 boys and 201 girls aged between one and 17, from care homes in Selangor and Negri Sembilan in a rescue operation codenamed Ops Global.
A total of 171 suspects aged between 17 and 64 were arrested, including a teacher and dormitory caretakers.
More to come
