Sunday, October 3, 2010

BANTING MURDERS: 'My hubby may be a victim too'

KAPAR: The wife of a businessman who has been missing for more than a year suspects that his disappearance may be connected to the main suspects in the Banting murders.

Jayanthy Sandran, 34, said her husband, Anpalagan Swaminathan, 43, failed to return home after meeting his friends on Aug 3 last year.

Anpalagan had earlier met a policeman friend in Bukit Sentosa and about 2.30am, he met another friend in Banting. He has not returned home since.


Jayanthy said she tried contacting her husband on his handphone but could not get through.

She, however, managed to trace the Mercedes-Benz he used via its global positioning system tracking device to the Nur Lembah Pangsun Eco Resort in Hulu Langat.

"However, the management said my husband never checked in," she said at a press conference at Kapar member of parliament S. Manikavasagam's service centre here yesterday.


She said she is now worried that her husband's disappearance may be linked to the 41-year-old main suspect in the murders of cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya and her three associates.

Anpalagan, who was born and raised in Teluk Bunut, Banting, was a good friend of the lawyer and they were often spotted in Banting.

The housewife and mother of four said she had reported her husband missing at the Bukit Sentosa police station in Rawang on Aug 4 last year, fearing he may have been kidnapped.


But she claimed that the investigating officer at the Kuala Kubu Baru police station said her husband may have left voluntarily.

Worse, her husband's secretary, who joined the company just a few months before he went missing, has taken over his place as director and has barred her from entering the company premises.

Jayanthy, who is illiterate, claimed that she was tricked into signing documents transferring land, properties and the company to the secretary.

She said apart from the company in Rawang, Anpalagan had 4ha of land in Banting and 174ha in Rawang and various other properties and land, including several hectares in Sungai Petani, Kedah, and Ipoh.

"I used to go to the office after my husband disappeared but I was told to stay home and that I would be paid RM10,000 a month.

"Now I have been barred from the office and the payments have stopped in the last six months. I have no money and am at a loss. My children are always asking me about their father," she said, adding that the RM150,000 in her husband's bank account had also been withdrawn.

The secretary said Anpalagan was alive but would not disclose his location.

Jayanthy believed her husband is in the country as his passport was at the office.

Manikavasagam said Jayanthy had come to him in April and he helped her by writing to the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.

"She received a reply from the inspector-general of police's office on Sept 1 that they would take the necessary action."

Manikavasagam said he would take Jayanthy to Bukit Aman to submit a memorandum to the IGP tomorrow and lodge a report against Anpalagan's former secretary.

Hulu Selangor police chief Superintendent Norel Azmi Yahya Affandi said the case was reclassified as kidnap several months ago although there was no ransom demand.

"The forensic team inspected the victim's abandoned car but there was no lead. We are still pursuing the case and with the latest claims, we will check if there are any links to the murders of Datuk Sosilawati and seven others."