RAJA IZZUWIN (Charge for parking offences)

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RAJA IZZUWIN:

(Charge for parking offences): The following Question stood in the name of Ms Indranee Rajah -

11. To ask the Minister for Home Affairs, with reference to the case of Raja Izzuwin reported in the Straits Times on 30th March 2005, (a) why it is that the Police did not realise, prior to charging him with the parking offences committed by another person, that the I/C and residential particulars given by him were false, and (b) whether as a matter of general procedure the police checks the photos and thumbprints on the identity cards of suspects against the physical appearance and thumbprints of the suspects in custody.

Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Question No. 11.

The Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, let me assure Ms Indranee Rajah that Police has systems and procedures in place to verify the identities of persons who are taken into custody. These systems and procedures are constantly reviewed and fine-tuned. Indeed, an enhanced fingerprint identification system was introduced in 2002 to speed up the verification process.

Sir, in this case, the subject, Raja Izzuwin, gave the name and IC number of his friend when checked by Police officers, not realising that his friend was wanted by Police for failing to attend court for various parking offences. At the time of his arrest, he did not have any identification papers with him. Even when Raja Izzuwin discovered that his friend was wanted by the Police, he did not disclose his true identity to the Police. Neither did he do so to the Court when sentence was meted out.

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While in custody, Raja Izzuwin's fingerprints were screened as part of Police's procedures to verify his identity. The screening did not produce any match with the existing records in the automated fingerprint identification system. At that point, the officer concerned should have applied for an extract of the NRIC record to verify his identity as part of Police procedures. However, he did not do so. This was a lapse on his part. Hence, Raja Izzuwin was able to continue assuming the identity of his friend, Saifuddin, when he was produced in Court.

Sir, this episode would not have arisen if Raja Izzuwin had not deliberately attempted to mislead the Police by impersonating to be his friend. He continued this charade even after discovering that his friend was wanted by the Police. Therefore, this case is clearly an anomaly rather than the norm. Nevertheless, it identified a potential loophole in Police's verification process. On discovering this, Police immediately conducted an internal inquiry. Procedures were then further tightened to ensure that this will not happen again.

Once again, let me assure the House that Police will take the necessary steps to address any lapses in its procedures.