Anonymous letter warns Najib of Indian ‘gang threat’

An 'Umno member' warns the prime minister of the rise of Indian gangs in the country which may cause another Hindraf-like political tsunami if not addressed urgently.

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has apparently been warned of an alleged threat of gangsterism among the Indian community which would, if left unchecked, indirectly cause the Barisan Nasional government to lose votes in the next general election.

An anonymous letter purportedly written by a “concerned Umno member” and sent to Najib on April 20, urged the Umno president to treat the matter seriously or risk another “political tsunami” akin to 2008, which the Hindraf movement had contributed to.

In the letter, seen by FMT, the “Umno member from Selayang Baru” implicated the MIC and the police for being complicit in allowing “Gang 36″ to gain more influence and power.

The author claimed that on Dec 3, 2011, MIC organised a Deepavali event at The Mines, Sri Kembangan, where about 7,000 Indian youths who attended were made up of “almost 99%” of Gang 36 members.

Several prominent politicians from BN officiated at the event, with the author naming three of them in the letter. They included two members of parliaments and a minister.

Repeated attempts to contact the three national leaders for comments were unsuccessful.

“Close to 99% of the Indian youths who attended were from Gang 36. The behaviour, character and clothing of these youths were very embarrassing. Their actions not only taint the image of MIC but also BN,” wrote the “Umno member”.

The writer claimed that a number of these youths even wore the “Geng 36″ T-shirts and waved the “Gang 36″ flag openly.

“That event gave a bad impression, especially the Indian community towards BN party. The event also clearly shows an attempt by Gang 36 to fortify its positions through politics.”

The writer also said the event has become the talk of the town among the Indian community, and defeated MIC’s attempt to portray a new image after their alleged “failure” under former MIC president S Samy Vellu.

The writer said that it was his opinion that the leader of the gang, who he claimed is involved in drug trafficking and other crimes, is trying to use politics to clear the gang’s criminal records and reign supreme in the country.

‘Conspiracy brewing’

“The attempt of Gang 36 to enter politics to fortify its position should be stopped so that the opposition does not use this issue to deny [BN] the votes of the Indians.

“Yang Amat Berhormat [prime minister], don’t treat this issue as merely an Indian one. Hindraf, which was considered a small matter, created such a big impact in 2008 and four states fell to the opposition’s hands.

“A conspiracy is brewing to accuse the government, particularly Umno, of ethnic cleansing of the Indian community by taking a lax attitude towards gangsterism in Malaysia. The police all over the country have been bribed in the millions by Gang 36.”

The letter claimed that the police – from police beats all the way to Bukit Aman – have given the gangsters the “green light” to carry out their drug trafficking activities by taking these bribes.

He alleged that the worse district was the Gombak police headquarters. “A lot of proof can be found if the Gombak police chief is investigated,” said the the writer.

No comment was forthcoming from Bukit Aman. However, Gombak district police chief Abdul Rahim Abdullah told FMT that these allegations were “nonsense”.

“I’m not going to comment at length since I’ve personally been implicated here. My CPO [Selangor police chief] or IGP [Inspector-General of Police] perhaps should comment and tell us if they would form a special investigation against my district. I am open to that.”

“I deny these ludicrous allegations. And if you were to ask me if the police gave gangsters the ‘green light’, then perhaps I will show you the cases where we have nabbed these gangsters. If we were to allow gangs such as 08 or 36 to do as they please, then I don’t think we can sleep soundly.

“These gangs are present in other districts, too, and we are monitoring their activities. Whenever we find any involvement, and if we have direct evidence, we will pull them in and try to charge them,” he said.