news without borders
06
theSun on THURSday | AUGUST 26, 2010
Praise
for
Penang
police
By Himanshu Bhatt
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
GEORGE TOWN:
Penang police have been
commended for bringing down the crime rate in the
state by 18% in the frst sixmonths of the year.
Chief Minister LimGuan Eng said the 18.1%
decrease from January to July comparedwith the
same period last year, was much higher than the 5%
dip recorded as the national average.
He told a press conference yesterday that the
number of cases of violent crime in the state dropped
from 1,157 between January and July last year to 1,096
over the same period this year, while the number of
cases of property crime had dropped from8,155
during the said period last year to 6,530 this year.
Penang Chief Police Offcer Datuk Ayub Yaakub
whowas also present said he hoped issues which
threaten peace and stabilitywill not be brought up
again, following allegations that the name of the
chief minister had been improperly used in Friday
sermons at certainmosques.
“We hope this issue has been resolved andwill
not be repeated. This was a test during the frst half
of Ramadan, andwe will now see howwemanage to
overcome it in the second half,” he said.
Alluding to a recent controversy inwhich Lim’s
name was alleged byUmno to have been used
instead of the king’s, Ayub said due focus should be
given to forgiveness and reconciliation during the
holymonth.
Police classifed the case under the Sedition Act
after reports were lodged.
The preacher at the centre of the controversy,
Zakaria Ahmad, had said on Tuesday that thematter
had been politicised and blown out of proportion by
certain parties. He said he had in his sermon prayed
that Limand non-Muslims would be given guidance
to embrace Islam.
Lim said he hoped those who hadmade “irres-
ponsible” allegations would be given due heavy
punishment. “We reject altogether elements that
threaten to bring disunity,” he said.
>CM: Crime ratedropped18%
infrst sixmonths compared to
5%national average
Bid to cross-examine
armymajors tobe
heardonOct 1
By Tan Yi Liang
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
SHAH ALAM:
The High Court has fxed Oct 1 to
hear an application by ex-Royal Malaysian Air Force
(RMAF) sergeant N. Tharmendran to have his lawyer
cross-examine twoRoyal MalaysianArmymajors who
he alleges tortured him under detention.
Justice Datuk Asmabi Mohamad granted the
postponement requested by counsel N. Surendran
on Aug 23, after hearing an application by DPP Ishak
Mohd Yusoff for time to go over the motion.
This means Tharmendran’s bid to strike out the
charge against him will be delayed.
Tharmendran, 42, is charged with supply com-
pany director K. Rajandran Prasad, 38, under Section
380 of the Penal Code for offences linked to the theft
of twoF-5Eengines foundmissing in 2007. Theywere
reported stolen by the RMAF on May 22, 2008.
Tharmendran is also charged under Section 109
of the code with abetting in the theft of the two
engines in collusion with senior airman Mohamad
Shukri Mohd Yusof.
Outside court, Surendran said Tharmendran was
still on remand as he feared for his safety, although
he was able to post bail. “He is still in remand in
Sungai Buloh Prison because the home and defence
ministries won’t give him the guarantee he’s entitled
to. He has been in jail since July 19 because he feels
safer, but he is not happy,” Surendran said.
Tharmendran had alleged that hewas stripped to
his underwear in a cold roomand repeatedly ordered
to admit to the theft. He also said he was forced to
wear a crash helmet before being repeatedly hit with
a cricket bat and golf club.
B r i e f s
restaurantworker
chargedwithrape
IPOH:
A part-time fast food
restaurant worker was yesterday
charged in the sessions court with
raping and sodomising an 11-year-
old girl early this month. On the frst
charge, Haris Iskandar Abdullah, 38,
of Tambun, is accused of having
raped the girl outsideWisma OAB in
Kampar on Aug 4. On the second,
he is alleged to have sodomised her
in undergrowth in Gopeng on the
same day. The case has been set for
mention on Oct 18. – Bernama
lenggongvalley
forheritagesite
KUALA LUMPUR:
The cabinet
yesterday approved the Inform-
ation, Communication and Culture
Ministry’s plan to propose the
Lenggong Valley in Perak as a
World Heritage Site after George
Town in Penang, and Melaka.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim
said a report and proposal would
be submitted to the United Nations
Educational, Scientifc and Cultural
Organisation. He said the discovery
of skeletal remains of the “Perak
Man” in the valley was among the
factors that had drawn Unesco’s
attention. – Bernama
4,500RTDmenfor
‘deathstretches’
KAJANG:
The Road Transport
Department is expected to station
4,500 offcers at 202 “death
stretches” throughout the country
during the festive season, its
director-general Datuk Solah Mat
Hassan said. He said roads, apart
from driver and vehicle, are a factor
in fatal accidents. “We cannot deny
that roads also contribute to acci-
dents, but if drivers are careful and
follow speed limits, and make sure
their vehicles are in good condi-
tion, accidents can be reduced,”
Solah said yesterday. – Bernama
LESSeelosesclaim
fordepositboxitems
KUALA LUMPUR:
The lessee of a
Public Bank Berhad safe deposit
box has failed in his bid to claim
damages for the loss of items in the
box, which was among those
broken into in a robbery at the
bank’s Seri Kembangan branch in
2006. In dismissing the claim in the
High Court yesterday, Justice Datuk
Balia Yusoff Wahi orderedWong
Lee Hal, 46, to pay the bank’s legal
costs. – Bernama
‘nolard inQBBghee’
KUALA LUMPUR:
Q.B.B. (Pte) Ltd
has maintained that its QBB Pure
Ghee product does not and has
never contained lard or any
substance of porcine origin. Its
director Lim Peck Bin said in a
statement that a letter from the
Department of Islamic Develop-
ment Malaysia (Jakim) dated Aug 19
had stated that a thorough analysis
of the product had shown no trace
of lard or any substance of porcine
origin. – Bernama
suspect inboy’s
deathremanded
KOTA BARU:
The 33-year-old man
suspected to have killed a three-
year-old boy by slitting his throat at
Kampung Sungai Budor near here
on Tuesday has been remanded for
fve days from yesterday to facilitate
police investigations. The suspect, a
close relative of the boy, was
admitted to the Raja Perempuan
Zainab II Hospital after attempting
to slit his throat in the incident. The
boy, Mohd AdamMuzaffar
Muhaimi, died on the spot. –
Bernama