EACH time a new inspector-general of police (IGP) is appointed, M. Indira Gandhi sees a ray of hope, believing she would finally be reunited with her daughter.

Current IGP Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani would be the sixth police chief to take up the case of the missing Prasana Diksa. Come April 30, it will be a year since his appointment as the country’s top cop. 

But to date, Acryl has not uttered a single word about the efforts and developments in locating Indira’s daughter and her ex-husband K. Padmanathan, who converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Riduan Abdullah.

Expressing her frustration and disappointment, Indira told The Malaysian Insight Acryl has not contacted her or Indira Gandhi Action Team chairman Arun Doraisamy to talk about the saga, which has now dragged on for 13 years.

“Till today, the IGP has not addressed the matter, to me or even Arun. He has not even attempted to meet me,” the kindergarten teacher said.

“Either this IGP is completely ignorant about this case or he has chosen to close an eye.”

Indira was of the view that Acryl’s efforts in finding her daughter would be nothing better than his predecessors.

“I think he is just another IGP who is not going to make any headway into the case.

“I have seen five previous IGPs who had done nothing to find my daughter,” she said.

Acryl did not comment on the case but directed the reporter to contact the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for updates.

CID director Abdul Jalil Hassan in a brief update said the people involved in this case are still being traced, adding that police will issue an update on the latest development.

Prasana was taken by Riduan before he converted to Islam in 2009, when she was just 11 months’ old.

He had also converted their three children to Islam without Indira’s knowledge.

In 2018, in a landmark ruling, the Federal Court quashed the unilateral conversions of Indira’s children – Prasana and two older siblings.

The apex court upheld the nullification of the religious conversions by only one parent and affirmed custody to the mother.

Indira is now waiting for Riduan to be located and Prasana to be returned to her as ordered by the court.

Riduan is now a fugitive for violating the Ipoh High Court’s order in 2014 to return Prasana, leading to a writ of mandamus by the court compelling the IGP to arrest him.

“My case has been dragging on for 13 years now. I don’t know where my daughter is, how she looks… I know nothing.

“But my question is, what have the police done all this while?

“The Federal Court has ordered the police to find my daughter but they have not done their duty till today.

“The biggest support here should be the police force, who should obey the court order but they have not,” she said.

She said all the previous IGPs had made promises and did not keep up to them.

“We are losing hope in the police force.” 

Indira has filed a RM100 million suit against former IGP Abdul Hamid Bador for failing to locate her daughter.

Hamid, who was IGP from May 2019 until his retirement last year, said several times that he, too, wanted justice for Indira and the police were working hard to find Riduan and Prasana, whom some suspect are in southern Thailand.

Hamid, however, had also admitted to knowing Riduan’s whereabouts and was working through an intermediary, but that extraditing him was complicated.

This led to Indira filing a suit against Hamid in 2020, alleging that the then IGP had deliberately and negligently disregarded a mandamus issued by the Federal Court, by failing to investigate or take appropriate action to return Prasana.

Half-baked job by the police

Arun said police had not shown interest in this case from the very start.

He said this was proven by their lack of action, which he claimed even frustrated Ipoh High Court judicial commissioner Bhupindar Singh.

“It is sad that we have to go as far as filing a contempt of court case against the former IGP and police department.

“Judicial commissioner Bhupindar Singh has been grilling them. It is not that police are unable, but they don’t want to pursue the search for Prasana,” he said.

Bhupindar last year assailed police for their shoddy work.

He questioned the Attorney-General’s Chambers, which represented the police, on the seriousness of the police department in locating fugitive Riduan.

“They are purposely dragging their feet so that Prasana would turn 18 and then would be a major to make her own decision (regarding her religion).

“These are the allegations I’m putting against the police force,” he said.

Arun also said that Ingat is planning to resume the stalled 350km “Indira Gandhi Justice Walk” by June this year.

“It will definitely go on.

“We are looking at sometime during the end of May or beginning of June this year,” Arun told The Malaysian Insight.

Indira was supposed to embark on a 12-day, 350km justice walk from Sungai Petani to Putrajaya in November 2020.

She was supposed to deliver letters to the prime minister as well as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

However, with Covid-19 cases rising during that period of time, the plan was put on hold.

Now that Malaysia will slowly transition into endemicity starting April 1, Arun said plans are underway to start the walk. – March 16, 2022.