GEORGE TOWN, Sept 30 — Police are the completing investigation paper regarding a defamation case involving a senator from Penang who allegedly forced his Muslim bodyguard to eat pork.

Penang police chief Datuk Hamzah Ahmad said police recorded the statements of four individuals including the 38-year-old senator to complete the investigation paper on the case.

"Next, the investigation paper will be submitted to the office of the Deputy Public Prosecutor for further action and instructions regarding the case,” he said after witnessing a handing over duties ceremony involving the heads of the Penang Contingent Management Department, the North East District Police and the Chairmanship of the Family Association North East Police (Perkep) at the North East Police District (IPD) headquarters here today.

On Friday, police opened an investigation paper following a police report from a senator on Thursday night who claimed that he was defamed that he forced his bodyguard to eat pork and his bodyguard also made a police report to deny the accusation.

In another development, Hamzah said the police were hunting for several Vietnamese men belonging to a burglary gang breaking into factories and offices in Penang and Kedah, after two Vietnamese men were shot dead at a crime scene by police on Jalan Bukit Panchor near here early on Friday morning.

In another case, Hamzah said police are investigating the allegation of a woman in an audio broadcast (podcast) on social media site TikTok that she was forced to be a prostitute by an unlicensed money lending syndicate or ‘Along’ in Penang.

He said police were currently actively tracking the location of the woman who claimed she was in the state.

An audio broadcast lasting six minutes 45 seconds went viral on social media claiming that a 26-year-old woman in Penang was forced to become a prostitute since February after her father was in debt with the Along (loan sharks).

In that podcast, the woman contacted the audio operator during the live broadcast on TikTok and claimed that her father owed RM20,000 to the Along before she was forced to be a prostitute by the syndicate to pay off the debt.

Earlier in the ceremony, Head of the Penang Contingent Management Department ACP Muhammad Halim Yatim handed over the position to ACP Razlam Ab Hamid who was previously North East IPD district police chief.

Muhamad Halim, who served in the PDRM for 31 years, went on mandatory retirement and Razlam handed over the position of North East district police chief to his deputy Supt Lee Swee Sake who will assume the position effective today. — Bernama