No seriousness yet in investigative effort, says advocacy group
KUALA LUMPUR: Seventeen years after her daughter disappeared, M. Indira Gandhi met Malaysia’s top police leadership at Bukit Aman yesterday, demanding answers, but left “deeply disappointed”, saying the same investigative gaps remain unaddressed.
Carrying Prasana’s 16-year-old teddy bear – the same symbolic item she attempted to hand over during last month’s march – Indira met IGP Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail and senior Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers in a high-level engagement.
Speaking to reporters briefly outside the Bukit Aman police headquarters, she said she was exhausted by repeated promises.
“For 17 years, the answer has been the same. ‘We will try’. I want to know what has actually been done.
“My daughter turns 18 years old in six months. Will I see her before then?” she asked.
Indira was accompanied by her elder children Karan Dinish, 27, and Tevy Darsiny, 28, alongside Arun Dorasamy, chairman of the Indira Gandhi Action Team.
According to Arun, Mohd Khalid had assured the family that the case would be treated as a priority.
Arun said they also pressed Mohd Khalid on enforcement gaps, including alleged Budi95 fuel subsidy transactions linked to fugitive father K. Pathmanathan.
“They claimed they had traced eight locations but could not identify him from CCTV footage.
“One location had showed an image but the face was blurry. There is nothing conclusive to report.”
He also flagged serious lapses in court documentation.
“Sixty-four per cent of the 19 affidavits filed in the Ipoh High Court are cut-and-paste, with typos and repeated errors.
“We handed a compiled copy to Mohd Khalid to review.”
Arun said the team highlighted long-standing concerns, including an unexecuted arrest warrant from 2014, traffic summons records and multiple police reports lodged without follow-up statements.
“There is no seriousness yet in the investigative effort.
“We will not submit further intelligence until trust is established,” he said.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran, who helped secure the appointment following the Justice March on Nov 22, joined the meeting briefly before leaving for Dewan Negara.
The meeting, which began at 4.45pm and lasted about an hour, included CID Prosecution and Legal Division deputy director Senior Assistant Commissioner Datuk Mohd Fazley Ab Rahman.
Yesterday’s session followed the Justice March, in which several hundred supporters walked from Sogo to Bukit Aman to demand enforcement of court orders.
A tense three-and-a-half-hour standoff occurred when organisers insisted that Mohd Khalid personally receive the teddy bear.
Police later said no slots were available in December or January.
This prompted a sit-in, before Kulasegaran intervened to arrange yesterday’s appointment.
Prasana was taken in 2009 by her father K. Pathmanathan, now known as Muhammad Riduan Abdullah following his conversion to Islam.
He had unilaterally converted the couple’s three children.
In 2018, the Federal Court nullified the conversions and reaffirmed that both parents must consent under the law.
A special task force was formed in 2019.
Sixteen years on, Prasana’s whereabouts remain unknown.
