PETRA JAYA: Police obtained another remand order from the magistrate’s court here today to detain the six policemen arrested for extortion last week.
This is the third remand order against the six men, including a 53-year-old inspector from Sabah, to facilitate investigations into the case under Section 384 of the Penal Code for extortion.
Magistrate Portia Tham Ong Leng ordered the inspector to be remanded for two days and the remaining suspects, aged between 25 and 31, for three days.
Later, Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Amer Awal said the extension of remand was applied for in the wake of a third report lodged against the policemen.
“The suspects were initially released on police bail on Monday. They were, however, rearrested on the same day. We need more time to investigate the cases involved, especially after the third report was lodged against them at the Sekama police station,” he told reporters at the district police headquarters.
Present were Sarawak Criminal Investigation Department chief Datuk Dev Kumar and Kuching police chief Assistant Commissioner Abang Ahmad Abang Julai.
Asked the background of the person who lodged the third police report, Amer merely said: “Similar to the two people who had lodged the first two reports.”
However, he offered no other details.
Police initially arrested the six policemen in an operation spanning five hours between 11pm on Aug 8 and 3am on Aug 9. They were nabbed while at work or in their quarters in Kuching, Padawan and Lundu, near here.
On the food poisoning case involving two secondary school students in Sri Aman, Amer said police have requested the Chemistry Department to expedite the completion of its report.
“We have asked the department to try to furnish the report early. We will then pass the report to the deputy public prosecutor,” he said.
It was reported that a Form One student at the school was hospitalised after he ate fried noodles which had been tainted with poison on July 20. The tainted food was given by his classmate.
The grandfather of the suspect later lodged a police report claiming the victim had bullied his grandson.
