Ex-SB officer: I met Dr M

(The Star) – Former Bukit Aman Special Branch deputy director Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Hamid Bador said he had met Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad four times in the past two years under instruction from his superiors to get the former prime minister to tone down his attacks on Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

In a lengthy press conference here yesterday, he said he had met Dr Mahathir to get his views on certain things and also to get his consent to not do “some things”.

“At first, he agreed not to attack (Najib) openly. He said he would meet him,” he said yesterday.

DCP Abdul Hamid also said Dr Mahathir told him that he was unhappy with the way the Government was running things such as BR1M.

Last week, DCP Abdul Hamid reportedly said that even if he was cut into 12 pieces, he would never defame the servant of Allah who has contributed so much to the country, referring to Dr Mahathir.

DCP Abdul Hamid, who is now on leave, was then transferred from Bukit Aman to the Prime Minister’s Department last Thursday.

He also alleged that there were “invisible powers” that were uneasy with his presence as the No.2 in Bukit Aman’s Special Branch which could have lead to his transfer due to his insistence on having 1MDB fully investigated.

He said several weeks before the transfer order was out, he was called up to meet Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“I was given a choice of being transferred to the National Security Council or the Prime Minister’s Department,” DCP Abdul Hamid said, adding that he felt it odd that he was not told what his new role would be when the transfer takes place.

He also said he was not involved in the arrest of three Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers to assist investigations into SRC International.

SRC International is a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

“I have nothing to do with it. My advice then was not to do it. It is wrong,” he said.

MACC’s probe into SRC International is over a RM4bil bond sourced from Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen.

He also said Special Branch had advised the Government to explain clearly to the people about the 1MDB issue, and urged those involved to come forward to explain the issue.