KUALA LUMPUR: Former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Musa Hassan revealed yesterday that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had encouraged him to do his job and arrest a suspect in the Altantuya Shaariibuu case — who was Abdul Razak Baginda.

Musa said that he had first informed then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi about the case, but was told to inform Najib, who was his deputy, as Abdul Razak was Najib’s adviser.

“After the PM (Abdullah) came back from overseas, I told him who was involved. I said that police wanted to arrest Razak Baginda. The PM asked me to inform the deputy prime minister, whom I later met.

“He (Najib) said to me ... do your job,” Musa said in a press conference yesterday.

Altantuya, a Mongolian national, was murdered in October 2006, and her body was blown up with military-grade explosives. 

Investigations later revealed that the former translator was involved in an affair with Abdul Razak.

Abdul Razak was charged with abetting in the murder but was later acquitted. 

Musa, however, said Najib was not involved in Altantuya’s murder.

“Our investigation did not show any evidence of Najib’s involvement. There is no proof that shows he was involved in the case,” he added.

The current attention on the case follows an exclusive report by Al Jazeera on Altantuya’s murder broadcast last Wednesday.

The Al Jazeera documentary questions whether the two men eventually convicted of Altantuya’s murder — former police commandos Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri — were the “fall guys” for others, citing alleged text messages sent by Sirul suggesting a high-level cover-up. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in digitaledge Daily, on September 15, 2015.