INSPECTOR-GENERAL of Police Khalid Abu Bakar today said investigations into the disappearance of former Petaling Jaya councillor Peter Chong Fook Meng wasted a lot of police man hours.

Khalid said that initially police were shocked by his disappearance. Later, when he resurfaced, they were shocked by his story.

“Whatever it is, we wasted a lot of police man hours. We are, however, checking on claims that he was abducted,” Khalid said at federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman today.

Chong was last seen on April 5. He disappeared for about 10 days, sparking a nationwide search. He returned to Kuala Lumpur from Pattaya, Thailand on Sunday and said he was abducted while in Hat Yai.

Khalid said Malaysian police were in contact with their counterparts in Thailand to verify Chong’s story.

“We will decide on the next course of action after we get information from Hat Yai police,” he said.

Chong disappearance had caused panic among the public who suspected that it was linked to the abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh on Feb 13, and the disappearance of three other social activists in the past six months.

Khalid said Chong’s case had no bearing on the missing four, adding that police investigations into those cases were still continuing.

Apart from Koh, the three social activists who are still missing are Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife, Ruth, and Amri Che Mat, the founder of civil society group, Perlis Hope.

Chong told police he went to Thailand after receiving a call from a man who said he had information on the whereabouts of Koh.

He claimed he was abducted when he arrived in Hat Yai by two men who locked him up in a hotel room for three days before he was taken to Pattaya, a city some 1,000km away, where he was released.

He sought help from Pattaya police who helped him get in touch with the Malaysian embassy and his son, Darryl, in Kuala Lumpur.

Chong said he was not aware that the whole nation was looking for him and that he had no access to his handphone as his abductors had taken that, along with his passport and wallet. His passport was returned to him when he was released. – April 18, 2017.