Cops could not get footage of Koh's abductors because CCTV's were not functioning

KUALA LUMPUR: Police could not acquire CCTV recordings along the possible routes taken by Pastor Raymond Koh's (pix) abductors as they were not functioning, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia's (Suhakam) inquiry was told today.
Witness ASP Supari Mohammad said the police had requested to acquire the footages soon after they received report of Koh's abduction.
Supari, who is the investigation officer of the case, confirmed that there were several CCTVs in place in one of the intersections which was possibly used by the abductors, operated by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and traffic police.
"I have written a letter to the MBPJ and was informed that the CCTV was not working ... MBPJ said it was being upgraded.
"For the traffic camera, it would only be activated when there is a violation of traffic laws such as running over the red light," he told the three-panel inquiry chaired by Suhakam commissioner Datuk Mah Weng Kwai.
Commissioners Prof Datuk Dr Aishah Bidin and Dr Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Salleh also sat as the panellists at the inquiry held on the disappearance of Koh, social activist Amri Che Mat and Pastor Joshua and his wife, Ruth Hilmi.
Supari said the police had previously highlighted to the MBPJ that many of the CCTVs maintained by the local council were not working.
"But they gave us the excuse that the maintenance was too costly ... we wanted the CCTVs to fight crime but most of the time they were broken or in the process of being upgraded," he said.
Another CCTV installed on Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong was also found to be non-functioning when the police went to acquire the recording, Supari said.
"We have also written to LLM (Malaysian Highway Authority) and were later informed that it was not functioning," he said.
Supari however could not present the replies from LLM and MBPJ which had confirmed that the CCTVs along the route were not functioning.
"I cannot show you the evidence here. The matter is still under investigation and if I reveal the evidence, it will jeopardise my investigations," he said.
The inquiry was also informed that the CCTVs operated by MBPJ were also linked to an operation room at the Petaling Jaya District police headquarters.
However, the operation room was only provided with live feed with no recording, Supari said.