PI Bala’s wife and children missing, claims lawyer
Ram Anand, Malaysiakini
Private eye P Balasubramaniam’s wife, A Santamil Selvi, and her children are mysteriously missing from their family home in Rawang, Bala’s lawyer Americk Sidhu revealed today.
Americk said that Selvi had become incommunicado since yesterday morning.
Last Saturday, a few members of the press and even police officers showed up at her home after an SMS was circulated claiming that she would file a police report to claim that her husband had been paid by lawyers to make the false first statutory declaration (SD1).
Americk admitted his fears that she could be pushed to make a similar U-turn as Bala had done.
In 2006, just one day after signing SD1, in which he implicated Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor in the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shariibuu, Bala retracted it and signed a second SD which claimed that the first was signed under duress.
Bala passed away on March 15 from a heart attack shortly after returning from self-imposed exile in Chennai. He had been campaigning for Pakatan Rakyat.
Americk said on Monday, two “journalists” had appeared at Bala’s house claiming that their editors had told them that Selvi wanted to make a statement.
She denied this to the reporters, but seated in a black car, they were seen to be taking pictures of the house from a distance.
According to Americk, neighbours had informed Bala’s friend that the whole family had left the house in their car at about 10.15am yesterday and have not been reachable since then.
A family friend had today visited the house to notice that the family dog was out of it’s cage and roaming out in the front porch, with the front gates closed.
“The neighbours are also missing and have been uncontactable all day,” he said, adding that the turn of events was very “uncharacteristic” of Selvi.