Thesun 2008-12-03 Page06 Divorcee Mastermind Held Drugs And Arms Seized

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Rear seat belts: Who’s exempted

KL well-prepared city, says expert

KUALA LUMPUR: Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat clarified yesterday the exemption on the rear seat belt ruling is only given to vehicles registered before Jan 1, 1995, those registered after that date but were not equipped with the anchorage points for seat belts, and commercial vehicles like buses, taxis and hired cars. The owners of vehicles registered after Jan 1, 1995 and with anchorage points but not equipped with rear seat belts are given three years from Jan 1 to install the seat belts. Under the new ruling, the driver would be held responsible if the rear passengers were found not wearing their seat belts, Ong said at the launch of the installation of rear seat belt programme at the Proton Platinum Centre in Mutiara Damansara here. The text of his speech was read by the ministry’s deputy secretary-general, Datuk Long See Wool. – Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur is one of the better prepared cities in Asia when it comes to managing potential disasters, N.M.S.I. Arambepola, an expert from the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, said yesterday. “You have emergency systems such as the SMART tunnel to handle flash floods, and other cities can learn from this,” he told Bernama after giving a talk on Reducing Disaster Risks in Urban Areas. Arambepola, the centre’s Urban Disaster Risk Management director, said Kuala Lumpur was used as a good example during classes and seminars on disaster risk reduction in urban areas. The talk was held in conjunction with the Asian Ministerial Conf erence on Disaster Risk Reduction, opened by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak yesterday. – Bernama

Divorcee mastermind held, drugs and arms seized ‘India warned of likely attack on Mumbai in October’ pg 9

PENANG: A divorcee who masterminded the biggest drug syndicate in Penang and had an arsenal of firearms at her disposal to ward off the police, was smoked out of her lair last week. Seized from the 40-year-old suspect were an assortment of drugs worth about RM6.4 million, hidden in several houses. So passionate was the woman in drug trafficking activities that her own home in Sungai Nibong was used as a heroin-processing

laboratory. Penang police chief Datuk Ayub Yaakob said the woman was detained at her home at about 9pm on Saturday, bringing to an end several weeks of intelligence operations. He said the operations were jointly carried out by the Penang, Selangor and Bukit Aman police and they resulted in uncovering the largest drugprocessing and distribution syndicate in Penang. Following her arrest, the police found a heroinprocessing laboratory in her home. Ayub said that after interrogation, the woman led the police to three more houses in Bukit Jambul, Datuk Keramat and Jelutong, where more drugs and drugprocessing paraphernalia were found. The seized drugs consisted of heroin base weighing 9.1kg, heroin No. 3 (6.4kg), marijuana (0.7kg), ketamin (9.3kg), opium (0.9kg), syabu (0.1kg), caffeine (513kg), 59 pills of Eramin five, and 33 bottles of precursor drugs. “Apart from that, the police seized four guns – a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver, an

Austrian Steyr assault rifle with two ammunition magazines, a Walther pistol with an ammunition magazine, and a Taurus Brasil pistol with two ammunition magazines – together with seven .38 calibre and 9mm calibre ammunition and 50 .32 calibre ammunition. “We believe the syndicate used the guns for its own protection and would not hesitate to kill anyone who got in their way, including the police,” Ayub said. The police also seized a car, a bank account book, jewellery and foreign currencies totalling about RM300,000. Initial investigations revealed that the three houses were used to store drugs before distribution to other states. Police did not rule out the possibility the woman had international drug links. “The woman has been remanded until Sunday to facilitate investigations. We are tracking down her accomplices,” Ayub said. He said the case was being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and Section 8 of the Firearms (Increased Penalty) Act 1971. – Bernama

Hearing of application to strike out RM100m suit postponed KUALA LUMPUR: The hearing of an application by two high-ranking officers and the government to strike out a RM100 million defamation suit brought against them by detained Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P. Uthayakumar has been postponed to Feb 23 to give more time for him to examine documents, said his lawyers. “We have asked for more time in view of the fact that he is under detention and the accessibility is limited,” said lead counsel M. Manogar. Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and the government sought to have the suit thrown out on grounds that the statement, which Uthayakumar claimed defamed him, was made to prevent feelings of hatred towards the government and avoid racial conflict. In his defence, Musa said the media statement he made on Dec 6 last year was in his capacity as Malaysia’s highest ranking police officer entrusted by law to safeguard security and public order. Musa said Hindraf was an illegal organisation which had broken the law by holding an illegal rally on Nov 25 last year and instigating public unrest and public disturbance. Musa, Gani and the government, in their statement of defence, also said the alleged slanderous remark was made

in their official capacities and on an occasion of qualified privilege because the Hindraf issue was a public order issue. Uthayakumar, who was arrested on Dec 13 last year and detained with four others under the Internal Security Act for suspected involvement in organising the so-called Hindraf rally, had sued the three defendants for allegedly linking him with Sri Lanka terrorist groups. In the suit filed on Jan 4, Uthayakumar said the remark, which was widely reported by the media, was slanderous and an attempt to destroy his credibility and reputation. Manogar said the government had applied to have the case struck out as it considered it an abuse of the court. “The government is asking for the case to be struck out as it is saying that there is no cause of action and this is an abuse of the court. What they are saying is that Hindraf and Uthayakumar are two different entities,” he said. “What we are saying is that his name has been defamed. There are numerous reports in the newspapers to implicate him as though he is involved in LTTE operations and that he has a connection with the Tamil Tigers, which is entirely wrong, and Uthayakumar flatly denies it.” Yesterday’s postponement was granted in chambers by judicial commissioner Mohd Yazid Mustapa.