Chennai: Tamil Nadu police on Saturday opposed the
bail petition filed by Malaysian national Michael Raj who was
involved in various crimes in both countries and is now
incarcerated in the central prison at Puzhal near here.
Objecting to his bail plea in the Madras High Court,
police said, "Investigation reveals that the petitioner`s
original name is Michael Soosai from Penang and he is a
Malaysian national. He is a fugitive criminal wanted by
Interpol Malaysia. He illegally entered India after faking his
death in that country and has no passport or visa for entering
India."
They contended that Soosai is a notorious criminal
involved in a lot of cases in both nations and was apprehended
with great difficulty. "If released on bail, he will abscond
and never be available for trial of the case," police said.
Michael Raj, who has many aliases, was arrested in
August last year near here in connection with a murder case.
When the matter came up before Justice S Nagamuthu,
petitioner`s counsel contended his client was an Indian and
not Malaysian as alleged by the prosecution. He filed the bail
petition in the name `Karunai Raj`.
However, police said after news and photographs of
Michael`s arrest were published in d ailies, they
received a
request from Malaysia to inform Interpol Malaysia of Royal
Malaysian Police about it.
After informing them, Interpol Malaysia sent details of
cases in which Michael was involved. Police here then sent his
fingerprints to the agency, police said.
After verification, authorities in Malaysia found that
the arrested person is Michael and was holder of a Malaysian
Identity Card.
"They also informed us he has produced a fake death
certificate to show he was dead to escape prosecution in cases
pending in Malaysia," police said.
The matter will come up for hearing next week.
PTI
