KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has yet to receive a report on any corruption case involving several Pygmy elephant killings in the state.
Sabah MACC director Karunanithy Y. Subbiah said if a report was received, it would conduct an investigation to see if there were any elements of corruption in the case.
“If a report is received, we will also look at the form of the report. If the report contains elements of corruption we will investigate immediately as it has to do with the scope of MACC duties.
“But what we do know is that this is a criminal case,“ he said when contacted by Bernama here today.
Four incidents of elephant carcasses were found in the east of the state from September to this month.
The first case was on Sept 25 when a group of anglers found a dead body of a pygmy elephant with 70 gunshot wounds on its body in Sungai Udin, Dumpas, Kalabakan, Tawau.
This was followed on Oct 19, when another Pygmy elephant was found shot dead in an oil palm plantation in Beluran and investigations revealed five wounds on the elephant with its tusks missing.
On Nov 3, the dead body of a Borneo pygmy elephant was found floating in Sungai Kinabatangan River and an autopsy revealed that both of the elephant’s hind legs had been cut off with a sharp object.
On Nov 16, another elephant was found dead in Kampung Sukau Kinabatangan, believed to be caused by toxemia poisoning, causing the elephant’s internal organs to fail. — Bernama
