(Kuala Lumpur) Malaysian police on Saturday announced the arrest of 355 people in connection with their investigation into hundreds of cases of children being physically and sexually abused in foster homes in Malaysia.
Inspector General of Police Razarudin Husain said the suspects were arrested during an operation targeting members of Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holding (GISB), an Islamic conglomerate accused of running “hotbeds of horror” and having links to the now-defunct banned Al-Arqam Islamist sect.
Those arrested include GISB CEO Nasiruddin Ali and 30 other members of the group.
Police raided 82 different locations including shelters, health facilities, businesses, religious schools and private residences, according to Razarudin Husain.
Some 186 victims were rescued during this operation, he said.
GISB had initially denied all allegations of violence and even said it did not manage the centres involved in the states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
But Nasiruddin Ali acknowledged sexual violence on September 14 while rejecting allegations of a pattern of mass violence.
Malaysian police had already arrested 171 people on September 11, including religious teachers and educators, and rescued more than 402 children after raiding 20 “hotbeds of horror”. Police believe they are children of GISB members, Husain said.
On Tuesday, he announced the freezing of 96 accounts linked to GISB containing approximately $124,000.