Zaman Khan: Former triad now in politics

Former CID director Tan Sri Zaman Khan Rahim Khan has revealed that a former convict who was a triad chief is now a low-ranking leader in a political party in Penang.

He said that when he was in the police force, he had the man arrested in Thailand, prosecuted in Malaysia and sentenced to jail.

The former convict had been the head of a secret society in Malaysia and his active involvement in politics, to the extent of holding an important position in a political party, was an unhealthy development for politics in the country, he said.

Zaman Khan did not reveal the identity of the leader but said that the individual was now a low-ranking leader of a political party in Penang.

He urged the police to conduct an investigation as the involvement of politicians in secret societies could cause all kinds of speculation by the public.

Principal assistant director of the Secret Societies, Gambling and Vice Division at Bukit Aman, Datuk Abdul Jalil Hassan, said the police would investigate claims of involvement of suspected secret society members in politics or holding important positions in political parties.

He said the police had not received any report or information linking secret society members with political parties.

"We do not have any report of secret society members being divisional heads in political parties. If there are such claims, we will investigate," he said.

Last week, the Home Ministry revealed the names of 49 secret societies identified to be involved in drug trafficking, extortion, murder, initiating fights among secret societies and causing chaos.

In the special 'Ops Cantas' nationwide exercise which began on Aug 17 to arrest secret society members, the police nabbed 4,777 people and seized 16 stolen vehicles, eight firearms, one hand grenade, 54 rounds of ammunition and 133 dangerous weapons.

The exercise was launched following a reported rise in crimes such as murder, rape and fights.

These cases included the shooting death of Arab Malaysian Bank founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi on July 29 near a Chinese temple in Lorong Ceylon. His wife was badly injured in the shooting.

Another was the shooting of crime watchdog MyWatch chairman R. Sri Sanjeevan near Taman Awana Indah, Jempol, Negeri Sembilan, on July 27.

Customs deputy director-general Datuk Shaharuddin Ibrahim was shot dead while on his way to his office in Putrajaya on April 26.

Crime analyst Datuk Akhbar Satar said the involvement of secret society members in any political party in the country was not a good development.

He said political parties, as registered organisations, should investigate the background of every member before allowing them to contest positions in the party.

"If left unchecked, it will become a threat because these gangsters will misuse their position to carry out illegal activities," he said.