KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 – As investigations into the murder of Royal Malaysian Customs Department deputy director-general Datuk Shaharuddin Ibrahim intensify, the police have recorded statements from 35 people, including senior colleagues.
The reputed drug buster’s death appears to bear the hallmark of an underworld slaying, based on his no-nonsense relentless enforcement which no doubt, had ruffled feathers.
Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Mohd Zinin said the statements from the 35, were aimed at identifying the motive behind the killing and obtaining leads to rounding up the culprits.
“We are also taking into account the footage obtained from a closed-circuit television camera and public information to solve the case.
“The police are confident that from the information weaned, we will find some leads (to identify the killers),” he told a press conference at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman here today.
Mohd Bakri said a special task force was formed to investigate the killing, adding that it comprised two units. The function of one unit was to monitor the operational aspect while the other was to coordinate the investigations, he added.
Last Friday, Shaharuddin, 58, was travelling in a Nissan SUV enroute to his office in Putrajaya when he was shot dead by the pillion rider of a motorcycle which had drawn alongside the left side of the vehicle, at a traffic light in Lebuh Sentosa-Lebuh Wawasan junction at 8.15am.
The gunman, who was armed with an automatic weapon, fired three shots in the direction of the victim, about a kilometre from the Putrajaya police headquarters. Having gained a reputation as a drug buster and even earning the moniker, ‘Mr Clean’ for his no-nonsense approach to enforcement, initial police investigations have not ruled out the involvement of drug syndicates in his murder.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had revealed that Shaharuddin was going after certain parties which were uneasy with the department’s strict enforcement. Shaharuddin, who was in charge of the Customs and Internal Tax Unit division, was to retire in a year’s time.
BERNAMA
