KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Investigations into the attacks on national football players Akhyar Rashid, Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim, and Safiq Rahim are now being handled by the Bukit Aman Classified Crime Investigation Unit (USJT), says Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain.
The three cases were previously handled at the state contingent level, and apart from that, USJT was also investigating threats allegedly received by Selangor FC chief executive officer Johan Kamal Hamidon, in which it was alleged that he would suffer the same fate as Faisal, the victim of an acid attack.
The investigation is being conducted from all angles and aspects, including whether it was related to the poison pen letter against the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) which went viral last month.
“We will examine whether the accusations levelled against the FAM a month ago — which the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had stated were unfounded — is it the statement that led to this kind of action?
“Dissatisfaction with FAM expressed against the national players?” he said during a special press briefing at Bukit Aman today.
Shuhaily added that the investigations have so far indicated that the three cases, which occurred two days apart, were not related to each other despite using the same modus operandi involving two suspects who would tail the victim before carrying out the attack.
The police are still investigating the motive behind the three incidents and had recorded the statements of 15 individuals, including family members and witnesses.
“For the second case (Faisal), we are waiting for several reports, especially chemical reports related to the acid used, as well as reports from officers on how the injuries, initially classified as second-degree, escalated to the fourth-degree,” he said.
For Faisal’s case, one of the suspects, a man in his 30s, is currently remanded until May 11, with initial investigations revealing seven criminal records, while another suspect, also a man, tested positive for drugs.
The attacks on the footballers started on May 2, when Akhyar Rashid, a Terengganu FC player, was injured after being hit with a blunt object in a robbery incident in Terengganu, followed by Selangor FC’s Faisal being splashed with acid in the parking lot of a shopping centre in Petaling Jaya on May 5.
Yesterday (May 7), the rear mirror of former national football team captain Safiq Rahim’s car was reportedly smashed by two suspects riding a motorcycle at the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) training centre in Johor Bharu.
— Bernama
