A team from Bukit Aman’s Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (JIPS) will be heading to Sabah to record statements from three senior police officers linked to the early investigation into the death of Form One student, Zara Qairina Mahathir.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay confirmed that a disciplinary investigation paper has been opened against a district police chief, a district Criminal Investigation Division (CID) head, and an investigating officer (IO). They are suspected of failing to comply with standard operating procedures (SOPs) during the probe.
“The JIPS team will travel within the next one or two days to take statements from these three officers. The investigation focuses on SOP non-compliance and the supervision of investigating officers in the Zara Qairina case,” Ayob said at the launch of the poetry anthology Antologi Puisi Makan Suap at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka last night.
He stressed that strict action will be taken against any officers, including supervisors, who are found to have breached investigation procedures. For now, the three officers continue to serve in their current roles.
Last week, Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain revealed that initial findings by a special task force had uncovered procedural non-compliance in the early stages of the case.
Zara, 13, was found unconscious at 4am on July 16 after allegedly falling from the third floor of her school hostel in Papar, Sabah. She passed away the following day at Queen Elizabeth I Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.
