KUANTAN (Sept 11): A total of 171 individuals were arrested on Wednesday following police raids on 20 children’s homes across Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, linked to a company alleged to be exploiting children under the guise of religious charity.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said the operation known as "Op Global" took place between 6am and 11am and among those arrested were 66 men and 105 women, aged 17 to 64, who served as caretakers, religious teachers and chairpersons of the homes.
As a result of the raids, 402 children — 201 boys and 201 girls, aged between one and 17 years were rescued. The children will be temporarily housed at the Kuala Lumpur Police Training Centre.
"We will be conducting health screenings and documenting the rescued children, a process that may take up to 14 days due to the large number of individuals involved," Razarudin told a press conference at the Pahang police contingent headquarters here on Wednesday.
He further revealed that intelligence reports suggested the children were exposed to inappropriate behaviour and were pressured into imitating these actions with others.
He revealed that victims in poor health were often denied medical treatment and were only being taken to a clinic when their condition became critical, adding that the suspects used hot objects to inflict injuries on the victims as punishment for perceived mistakes.
"Children and religious sentiments were exploited to solicit donations, with the perpetrators even claiming to perform Islamic treatments while inappropriately touching the victims," he said.
Preliminary investigations also revealed that these children are not orphans. Many were placed in these homes as infants, with their parent’s knowledge and subjected to indoctrination under the guise of religious education, a practice Razarudin condemned as harmful.
He did not rule out the possibility of deaths linked to the syndicate's activities and added that a detailed investigation would be conducted into the matter.
He also revealed that over 40 police reports had been filed against the company since 2011, with many withdrawn after the complainants were threatened. So far, there is no evidence to suggest any political party's involvement in the company's activities.
He said the case is being investigated under the Child Act 2001 [Act 611], the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 [Act 792] and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 [Act 670].
Earlier, six individuals, including a woman aged between 20 and 40, were arrested in Negeri Sembilan after the police began receiving reports about the company on Sept 2.
Op Global, which involved more than 700 police personnel, was supported by various agencies, including the Department of Social Welfare, the Health Ministry and the Chemistry Department.
Meanwhile, Razarudin reported that 10 police reports have been lodged against Pusat Kajian Ajaran Sesat (Pukas) between Aug 25 and Sept 7.
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