KUALA LUMPUR: The abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh was conducted "professionally", similar to a police operation, the High Court has heard.
Ali Asrar Abu Bakar, who was the police investigator in charge of Koh's abduction after it occurred in February 2017, said this when asked by Steven Thiru, the lawyer representing Koh's wife Susanna Liew, on the manner the abduction was conducted.
"Do you agree that the abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh was professional and had similar modus operandi like that of the police?" Steven asked, to which Ali Asrar responded with a "yes".
He said this in the hearing for an ongoing civil suit against the government over Koh's abduction before High Court judge Su Tiang Joo on Tuesday (Jan 7).
According to a Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) report, Ali Asrar had agreed with a first-hand witness to Koh's abduction, named Roeshan, when recording his witness statement on the day of the abduction.
Steven said that Ali Asrar had made a call in front Roeshan to find out if the operation had indeed been conducted by the police. Ali admitted to making the call.
However, when asked who he called that day, the junior police investigator at the time said he did not know who it was but denied it was someone from the police Special Branch's Social Extremism Division.
Ali Asrar also admitted that he and the eight other first responder police officers to the scene only conducted investigations for less than 15 minutes before returning to the Petaling Jaya police headquarters.
He said this was because his superior officer at the time, named Supari, told him to return to the station quickly to record Roeshan's statement.
Ali Asrar, who is now coordination inspector for Bukit Aman CID's Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipsom) unit also admitted that he and his team failed to conduct a proper initial investigation of the scene.
"Ali Asrar and his fellow officers also did not attempt to obtain CCTV footage from nearby houses.
"This is despite the number of officers present," said Steven, to which Ali Asrar agreed.
Steven also asked if Ali Asrar had questioned Liew on "crimes" her husband had possibly committed when recording her statement instead of questions to help locate Koh, to which Ali admitted to doing.
Judge Su then ended proceedings for the day and for Ali Asrar to provide further testimony when proceedings resume on Jan 14.
On Feb 13, 2017, Koh was abducted by masked men on Jalan SS4B/10 in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
In 2019, Suhakam released a report concluding that Koh was a victim of enforced disappearance by the state, namely the Special Branch of the police force.
The government then formed a special task force to publish a classified report with the findings of its investigations within six months, which was not released to the public.
Koh's family then filed a civil suit in 2021 against 13 defendants, including two former Inspector-Generals of Police, the Royal Malaysia Police and the government of Malaysia.
In August 2024, the High Court ordered the government to provide Koh's wife, Susanna Liew, access to the special task force report.
