Man who snitched on Sanjeevan protected as a witness

IGP says the illegal gambling centre operator is a ‘cooperative informant’, and had gone through the proper channel in passing information to the police.

(FMT) – The illegal gambling operator who claimed he was extorted by MyWatch Chairman R Sri Sanjeevan, will be protected under the Witness Protection Act 2009.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said this was because the 38-year-old man had gone through the “proper channel” in passing the information he had.

“For now, we are not planning to take any action against him, as he is a cooperative informant. So he has been given protection,” he told a press conference here today.

Sanjeevan, who chaired the anti-crime watchdog, was arrested on Wednesday following a complaint by the illegal gambling business owner, who claimed he had received a call from the former asking for RM25,000 in “protection” money on Monday.

Sanjeevan had allegedly threatened to expose the man’s business dealings on Facebook, to the media, or the police, if he failed to pay the protection money. The police then laid a “trap” following a complaint.

According to Khalid, three more individuals have come forward to say they too were extorted by Sanjeevan.

“On top of that, several reports were already lodged before he (Sanjeevan) was arrested.”

Khalid admitted the police were facing difficulty in eradicating the illegal gambling menace in the country, as detecting, monitoring and cracking down on all such joints would require massive manpower.

That is why the call for all entertainment outlets to be placed within one designated area in each state was justified, he said.