POLICE raided a business district largely owned by the GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd (GISB) network in Bandar Country Homes in Rawang, early this morning.
Reports said the raid began at 6.30am in Jalan Desa, involving 50 officers and 200 personnel from the Selangor Police and the Federal Reserve Unit, with assistance from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department and the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS).
Among the businesses inspected were a workshop, used clothing shop, restaurant, printing shop, media management company, and hotel believed to be owned by GISB.
Police also inspected several individuals, including children, while the MPS sealed several shops in the area.
Almost the entire business centre on Jalan Desa was closed off.
Meanwhile, Berita Harian reported that five two-storey terrace houses in Bandar Tasik Puteri, Rawang where GISB followers live, were vacant.
A team comprising police and the Social Welfare Department's enforcement division checked the houses at 5.30am today, and it is believed that the occupants left two days ago.
A neighbour, who declined to be identified, informed the teams that children lived in the houses, while clothes were still being hung on the clotheslines and seven children's bicycles were also left behind.
Berita Harian reported that there was a coop with quails at the back of the house. The backyard was renovated to become a place to bathe.
It also said all the houses were believed to have been abandoned in haste.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain had earlier said that the police have 39 more welfare homes under GISB on their radar as the probe into the company over alleged child exploitation and abuse continues.
He said the homes are located all over Malaysia.
The country’s top cop did not rule out the possibility of further action by the police, following the earlier raid on 20 GISBH-linked homes.
A total of 171 people were arrested in raids on welfare homes believed to be linked to GISBH.
Razarudin said the victims had endured various forms of exploitation and abuse including being sodomised.
He also said initial investigations revealed that caretakers also taught the children to sodomise other children.
GISBH has since denied the allegations and any connection to the case. - September 21, 2024
