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KUALA LUMPUR – The police are still “continuing to trace” the fugitive ex-husband of M. Indira Gandhi after it was reported last year that two cars were found to have been registered under his name in 2015 and 2017.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said a check by the police with the Perak Road Transport Department (RTD) in September last year found that the driving licence of Patmanathan a/l Krishnan @ Muhammad Riduan Abdullah is still active until May 26.
He added that the police also received a report from the department on January 13 that the person with that name owned “a few vehicles” that were registered with “a few registration numbers”.
He said the police had made the application to check on the ownership of the vehicles under the name on November 24.
Hamzah said this in a parliamentary written reply to a question by Kasthuri Patto (Batu Kawan-PH) on how Riduan managed to register two cars while he was sought by the police.
She noted that judicial commissioner Bhupindar Singh had confirmed that Riduan’s driving licence was found to have been last renewed in May 2021.
On November 15 last year, Bhupindar, who presided over the judicial monitoring on the investigation to trace Riduan, had questioned the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), which represented the police, on the seriousness of the police department in locating him.
He had then asked Senior Federal Counsel Nur Idayu Amir why the police had not been able to locate Riduan despite two cars that were registered under his name in 2015 and 2017 in Malaysia, while the authorities had confirmed that he had left the country in 2014.
“If, following the record, he had left the country in 2014, how then can he buy a Mercedes-Benz in 2015 and Nissan Frontier 2.5 in 2017 here?” Bhupindar was quoted as saying.
In his written reply during the current session of the Dewan Rakyat, Hamzah said that there is no provision under the RTD’s rules that allows it to obstruct or restrain its own administrative affairs on any individuals, including the registration and licensing of a motor vehicle, other than technical issues related to the motor vehicle.
He said the exception to this would be if a court order is issued beforehand to block a transaction, or to suspend or cancel it, in the event an individual has been found guilty of breaching the law or been punished for any offence under the Road Transport Act 1987.
“In other words, the RTD can only restrain or suspend a transaction after receiving an order, directive or decision from the court on any individual found to have committed wrongdoing under the relevant act,” he said.
Hamzah added that there is currently no order or record showing Riduan has been found to be in the wrong or handed a punishment by the court over any offence under the act to enable the RTD to withhold, suspend or cancel his transaction with the department.
“Other than that, efforts to trace the location of the person named are still being continued by the police,” he said.
In 2018, the Federal Court had unanimously ruled that the unilateral conversion of Indira Gandhi’s three children by Riduan without her consent was invalid.
In March 2009, Riduan, who converted to Islam after their marriage, left the house with their youngest daughter, 11-month-old Prasana Diksa. Indira Gandhi has not seen her since.
Indira has since for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to set up an independent task force comprising former judges to investigate police’s apparent inability to locate her youngest child and ex-husband as per a Ipoh High Court order in 2014. – The Vibes, March 18, 2022