PETALING JAYA, July 30 — The father of crime buster R. Sri Sanjeevan has asked the media to stop publishing news on his son before receiving his blessing, saying some information released since Saturday’s shooting was inaccurate and creating tension.
P. Ramakrishnan said in a statement late last night that his family is still in shock over the attempt on Sanjeevan’s life and such inaccurate information would only intensify their worry over his and their safety.
“With this, I request that media members who want to get information on my son Sanjeevan to contact me directly or his sister Maygala Ramakrishnan and not go through other parties.
“I also request that all unrelated parties or individuals stop issuing any statement to the media regarding Sanjeevan’s condition without first referring to me,” he said.
“My family and I are still in a state of shock and sadness over what happened to Sanjeevan and the inaccurate statements that have been released so far have only caused us more worry and tension,” he added.
Sanjeevan, the chairman of MyWatch who was said to be on the cusp of a major crime expose, was shot last Saturday by a man riding pillion on a motorcycle.
The man reportedly pulled up beside his silver BMW when he wound down his window to smoke a cigarette while at a junction near Taman Awana Indah in Jempol, Negri Sembilan, at about 4.30pm.
The 29-year-old managed to drive off despite being badly injured, leaving his assailants behind, but stopped some 300 metres from the scene where his friend Ramesh Balakrishnan, 35, who was in the car with him, took over the wheel to take him to Jempol Hospital.
Sanjeevan was later reported to have been rushed to the Kuala Pilah Hospital for surgery and is now being cared for in a Seremban hospital.
He is currently in the Serdang Hospital.
As of yesterday, media reports said Sanjeevan’s condition has been deteriorating due to the bullet wounds, which have affected his lungs and heart.
In the 11.30pm statement, Ramakrishnan said the hospital authorities had informed him that his son was still in a critical condition, but more stable than before.
He thanked the staff members and experts at all the hospitals that his son has been sent to — Hospital Jempol, Hospital Tuanku Ampuan Najihah, Hospital Serdang — for their efforts in reviving Sanjeevan.
“I also thank the Royal Malaysian Police for taking precautionary measures and offering us full security for Sanjeevan while he seeks treatment.
“My family and I also value the words of sympathy and support from Malaysians, as well as their prayers,” he added.
Sanjeevan was said to have been working on exposing the alleged links between rogue police officers and the criminal underworld before he was shot on Saturday afternoon.
According to PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli, when he met Sanjeevan last Friday night, the latter told him that he had obtained an internal police memo on a list of cops being investigated for their alleged involvement with drug syndicates.
“He’d planned to disclose it this week,” said Rafizi at a press conference yesterday.
The Pandan MP explained that Sanjeevan had said the amount of drugs involved was in the kilogrammes.
But Rafizi said the chairman of the MyWatch crime watchdog did not give him a copy of the memo, nor did he specify the number or ranks of police officers who were under internal investigation.
“It is important for the police not just to stop at the links between the police force and the underworld, but go beyond that,” said Rafizi. “It may involve other people in the Home Ministry.”
In the hours before the shooting, Sanjeevan had tweeted that “a @PDRMsia cop told some syndicate fellow that he’ll get them firearm & told them to fire few shots at my house to scare me/family!”
