Syed Hamid: PI also wanted to avoid the glaring media attention

Syed Hamid: PI also wanted to avoid the glaring media attention

By STEVEN DANIEL

KUALA LUMPUR:

Private investigator P. Balasubramaniam and his family left the country last week because they had received death threats, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

Syed Hamid said Balasubramaniam also claimed to have left the country to have more privacy because of the glaring media attention after he had made his statuary declarations.

“Bala decided to go overseas with his family on his own accord for their own safety. We have to recognise his desire for safety and privacy,” he told reporters after opening a symposium on criminal law and forensic science at the Police Training College in Cheras here yesterday.

"Bala decided to go overseas with his family on his own accord for their own safety" Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

When pressed by reporters, Syed Hamid said Balasubramaniam said he and his family had received death threats. However, Syed Hamid refused to reveal who had made the alleged threats.

He said a team was sent to where the PI was staying to record a statement regarding the statutory declarations he had made.

The first declaration dated July 1 had alleged that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had an affair with murdered Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

On July 4, he made another statutory declaration retracting the contents of the first.

When asked why Balasubramaniam was given special treatment by being allowed to have his statement recorded overseas, Syed Hamid said it was normal procedure for the police to go overseas to do so.

He said Balasubramaniam, a former Special Branch officer, was currently safe.

Later at a separate press conference, Federal CID director Comm Datuk Mohd Bakri Zinin said the police were not part of Balasubramaniam’s decision to leave the country.

He also offered to give police protection to Balasubramaniam and his family if they returned to the country.

“If he comes back to Malaysia, I’ll ensure he receives police protection,” he said, adding that Balasubramaniam had not made such a request yet.

He added that he was upset over allegations by the public that the police were behind Balasubramaniam’s disappearance.

kzso - the plots thicken and we are all waiting the next episode on this.