Don't make lame excuses for failing Indira, group tells outgoing IGP

Don't make lame excuses for failing Indira, group tells outgoing IGP

The Indira Gandhi Action Team (Ingat) says outgoing top cop Abdul Hamid Bador should not make lame excuses for his failure to retrieve Indira's daughter Prasana Diksa from the illegal custody of her ex-husband.

This is after Hamid yesterday said Indira and NGOs had made it difficult to resolve the case.

The inspector-general of police said he had appealed to Indira not to interfere with the case.

"She did not keep her promise and subsequently, an NGO intervened on her behalf. The man is abroad so we have to go through diplomatic channels.

"I believe we could have made huge progress last year if not for the intervention of the NGO," he was quoted as saying by The Star.

Prasana Diksa was an infant when her father Riduan, previously named K Pathmanathan, took her away in 2009 after converting to Islam. He also unilaterally converted two of his other children.

In 2018, the Federal Court unanimously ruled that unilateral conversions of children were unlawful as such decisions needed the permission of both parents.

It also issued an arrest warrant for Riduan.

Responding to Hamid, Ingat chairperson Arun Doraisamy said the IGP should not blame others for his own failures.

Ingat chairperson Arun Doraisamy

"I’d like to tell the IGP, for all the promises he made [...] the win-win situation, the 'happy ending, 'I know where the person (ex-husband) is', 'I'm talking to the person with a senior politician helping' [...] 'I have a special interest in this case', all these things are simply broken promises with sugar-coated words. That's it.

"Ingat should not be made the reason for his failure. (He should) take responsibility," Arun told Malaysiakini.

Arun said Ingat had wanted to work together with Hamid and the police, to share information with them all in the pursuit of getting Prasana back for Indira.

However, frustrated with the seeming lack of progress, Arun said Ingat will work on recovering Prasana themselves.

"We have the right by the virtue of the Federal Court decision to retrieve Prasana [...] we will unilaterally retrieve Prasana soon," he said.

Hamid had said that Indira's ex-husband and Prasana were not in Malaysia.

The top cop will be retiring on Monday and will be replaced by Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani.

Arun said Ingat is not placing any hope on Acryl Sani getting Prasana back for Indira.