Thesun 2008-12-16 Page01 Police Initiate Probe

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No. 4660 PP 2644/12/2008 (020369)

Tuesday December 16, 2008

TELLING IT AS IT IS

ly Perfect fami getaway pg34-35

» Likely freeze on foreign workers pg2

www.sun2surf.com

» Test of time and skill for RER pg7

Insult Iraqi-style ... President George Bush’s press conference during a farewell visit to Iraq on Sunday drew a strong response from an Iraqi journalist who shouted in Arabic “this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog,” and hurled his shoes. One of the shoes sailed over the president’s head and slammed into the wall behind him and he had to duck to miss the other one. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who was standing next to Bush, tried to block the second shoe with his arm. Throwing shoes at somebody is a supreme insult in the Middle East. The journalist was leapt on by Iraqi security officials and US secret service agents and dragged from the room screaming and struggling. Report and another photo Page 13

10 sen drop in fuel prices KUALA LUMPUR: Petrol and diesel prices have been further reduced by 10 sen a litre from today. In announcing the reduction yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the RON 97 petrol will be sold at RM1.80 a litre from RM1.90 and RON 92 petrol at RM1.70 from RM1.80. Diesel will be sold at RM1.70 a litre from RM1.80, he said in a statement. This is the seventh time the government has lowered fuel prices since August. The last revision was on Dec 3. The fuel price cut was in tandem with the drop in crude oil price in the world market. Also effective today, the price of subsidised petrol and diesel for fishermen has been slashed by 13 sen a litre to RM1.30 from RM1.43. – Bernama

Police initiate probe by Charles Ramendran [email protected]

CPO KHALID TO GET TO BOTTOM OF PHOTOS SHOWING RESCUERS SCOURING DAMAGED BUNGALOW

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have initiated investigations into theSun’s front-page report yesterday which showed photographs of rescuers at the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide purportedly scouring through a damaged bungalow after search and rescue operations were called off for the day. Selangor police chief Datuk DCP Khalid Abu Bakar said police will meet the owner of the damaged house, K.Thanarajah, whose wife

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Dr S. Yogeswari was killed in the disaster and his cousin Ravi Poobalan who took the photos to record their statements over the incident. It is learnt that Thanarajah and Ravi will meet investigators at the Bukit Antarabangsa police beat today. “We want to know what exactly was happening and if at all there are any discrepancies in the search and rescue, I will not tolerate things like this. I give my word that no one will be spared and stern action will be taken if at all there is any truth in the report. But let us investigate first,” he told theSun yesterday. Khalid said there were only three reports out of the 207 lodged so far which alleged theft by affected houseowners and the cases were under probe. He said there were also two other reports from residents who alleged looting based on hearsay and rumours. “When we asked the complainants from whom they heard these claims, they were unable to say. We need to know who is in the know of any incidents of looting as only then can we proceed with the probe to nab the culprits, if at all there is any. “However, it is not proper to accuse rescuers of looting just because they are at the landslide scene. They are SAR personnel, where else can they be? When they search for a missing person, they have to look into every nook and corner. In such a catastrophic disaster, there is no saying where the remains of a victim can be,” he said. Khalid said that Thanarajah should have lodged a police report on the matter soon after it took place as this would have enabled a more efficient probe. “I am not against him going to the media with the matter. That is his right, but he should have come to us soon after what he saw. “He has my contact number and could have called me directly. I would have looked into it immediately after his call,” said Khalid, adding that engineer Thanarajah had lodged a police report only on the damage to his house to date and that police initiated a probe on his latest claims based on the front page report in theSun.