IGP: We did not receive RM12 million

PUTRAJAYA: Police have denied receiving RM12 million from the families of the four Sarawakian sailors who were kidnapped.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said that according to the families, the money was handed over to the "Special Branch".
He however added that police believe the money could have been handed over to a "third party".
"We do not know and do not want to know who the 'third party' was, who were involved in assisting to secure the freedom of the sailors.
"We or the Special Branch have never received any of the money. We have also never paid the ransom," Khalid told a press conference at the Deputy Prime Minister's office here.
Khalid added the "third party" involved had troubled the police in handling the case.
Meanwhile, Khalid said a fundraising campaign ran by several political parties to secure the release of the sailors made it difficult for the police to continue their investigations.
He said the political parties announced the amount they had raised during the Sarawak elections.
"What they did during the elections had ruined our investigations. It gave the militants more power to demand," he said.
On Wednesday, Datuk Lau Cheng Kiong, the uncle of the released hostages, said that all the money was handed over to the Special Branch in Sandakan on May 24.
The four victims – brothers Wong Teck Pang, 31, and Wong Teck Chi, 29, their cousin, Johnny Lau Jung Hien, 21, and a fourth sailor Wong Hung Sing, 34, who were crew on a tugboat returning to Sarawak from the Philippines, were waylaid by several gunman who abducted them near Pulau Ligitan, Sabah before demanding for a ransom of almost RM20 million for their safe release.