Thesun 2008-12-15 Page01 Stealing From The Dead

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No. 4659 PP 2644/12/2008 (020369)

Monday December 15, 2008

TELLING IT AS IT IS

Akon wants to be free pg22

» Debate on MACC bill begins pg2

Stealing from the dead? T

» Benitez rues Reds’ failure to tame Tigers pg37

by R. Nadeswaran [email protected]

WHAT were these people doing in my house at 7pm on Sunday when the search and rescue operations were called off at 6.30pm? HOW come my clothes are on hangers and put out to dry? WHY did they have to touch my personal belongings?

www.sun2surf.com

HESE two pictures are telling indeed and related to the questions posed by Thanarajah Kanagaratnam, whose wife, S. Yogeswari, was killed in the landslide in Taman Bukit Anatarabangsa 10 days ago. After the funeral rites on Sunday evening, he returned to his parents’ home when he received a call from a doctor living in the neighbourhood. “He told me that he saw a man in uniform carting away a trolley bag from my house. When I got there at about 7pm with my cousins, I saw this group of uniformed men in front of my house. One of them was holding a bag,” said Thanarajah. His cousin, Ravi Poobalan, who snapped these pictures using his mobile telephone, says he remembers looking at his watch while walking up to Thanarajah’s house which was buried under tones of mud. He noticed that the excavator driver had stopped work and was walking down. “I asked him why he had stopped and he replied that the instructions were to stop at

6.30pm. And that’s when I looked at my watch. It showed 6.50pm. We walked up to the house and saw this group in front of the house,” said Ravi. Many other residents have reported to the police their houses had been broken into. Three members of the Bukit Antarabangsa Residents Association have lodged police reports. Thanarajah and other residents are also upset that unauthorised people, including those who had nothing to do with the search and rescue operations, were allowed in the area. “There was total chaos on Saturday and Sunday.

Sports

Everyone had a field day. Instead of controlling the situation to prevent ‘outsiders’, there were no checks,” he said. As an immediate reponse, Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar was quoted as saying his men had secured all areas, had set up floodlights at night and escorted residents who wanted to enter their homes. Khalid claimed that although many were crying foul over alleged break-ins and looting, only six police reports had been lodged. “These reports related to loss of items and damage to property. What needs to be investigated will be investigated,” he said.

» See also Page 16