KENINGAU: Nineteen suspected members of the banned ‘Kappa Rho Kappa’ or ‘Knights of the Right Keeper’ (KRK) were arrested while marking the group’s anniversary at a food court in Sabah’s interior Keningau.
Keningau police chief Supt Yampil Garai said the suspects aged between 14 and 59, were detained on suspicion of being members of the KRK, which the Home Ministry declared unlawful and banned in 2015.
He said checks revealed that five suspects also bore the organisation's symbol tattooed on their hands.
Supt Yampil said the anti-gangsterism operation dubbed Ops Pantas was conducted by the state police headquarters’ Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team and the Registrar of Societies (RoS) at around 9pm on Wednesday.
He said 15 mobile phones and two KRK membership cards were seized from the suspects while only four suspects had valid identity documents.
“All the suspects admitted during questioning that they had gathered at the food centre to celebrate the KRK group’s June 24 anniversary,” he said in a statement on Thursday (June 25).
He said the case was being investigated under Section 43 of the Societies Act 1966 while the 15 without travel documents were probed under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
KRK is a Philippines-based group.
In January this year, a foreigner was fined RM2,000 by the Magistrate’s Court for using a T-shirt with the KRK symbol.
