WITH tomorrow marking the 200th day of Pastor Raymond Koh’s abduction, civil society groups want answers from the police about inconsistencies in the evidence they have collected on the case.

Citizen Action Group on Enforced Disappearance (CAGED) spokesman Thomas Fann said Inspector-General (IGP) of police Khalid Abu Bakar should explain why statements by the force on different days were inconsistent.

“Kedah police had on June 18, listed down the evidence that was seized from a suspect in his car and at his home, which included number plates WNS5168 and BNW217. 

“But, on June 25, the IGP said they found a link (in the evidence), which was ST5515D, the car number plate of Koh, in the suspect’s home. We want the IGP to explain the discrepancy on what was said by the Kedah police and what was said by him.

“If he doesn’t give a satisfactory answer, then it raises the the question if police have fabricated the seizure of number plates from the house. If that is so, why the need to do so?” he told The Malaysian Insight.

An open letter by Koh’s wife, Susanna Liew, to the IGP today, questioning the police’s handling of the probe into her husband’s abduction, had generated much public sympahty

In the letter, Liew highlighted the family’s struggle to cope with Koh’s absence and took the police to task for their silence on the probe.

She listed down a series of statements made by Khalid since April, and described them as “being vague, bordering (on) sensationalism, with inconsistencies that raise more questions than answers and doubts about the authorities’ commitment to properly investigate the case”.

On the morning of February 13, Koh was abducted from his vehicle while he was travelling along Jalan SS4B/10 in Petaling Jaya.

The incident was captured on CCTV, which showed 15 men in three black SUVs carrying out the abduction in a matter of seconds.

Fann of CAGED also urged Khalid to answer the question raised before he retires from the force on September 4.

“He has to answer and not the incoming IGP. We wouldn’t expect anyone else to answer on his behalf.”

He hoped the new IGP would put more resources and give high priority to solve the disappearance of Koh and three others – Pastor Joshua Hilmy and wife Ruth, and social activist Amri Che Mat.

Fann said CAGED would make available to the public thousands of postcards with photos and basic information on Koh and the three others at the end of September. They will be distributed nationwide through a network of churches and by the 48 groups under CAGED.

As for the monthly candlelight vigils, Thomas said that they would continue the prayers until the end of the year and would decide if they would carry on or proceed with other programmes in the coming year. – August 30, 2017.