Former Sabah National Registration Department (NRD) chief Abdul Rauf Sani has admitted leading a team that processed identity cards for unqualified immigrants.

However, Abdul Rauf said, the team was working alone and did not take orders from political masters.

"I did it on my own. I am a government servant, if this was an instruction (from higher ups), it will be in written form," he said.

Abdul Rauf said this in his testimony before the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on Sabah's illegal immigrants problem.

He confirmed that he and his men operated from the residence of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's political secretary Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin in Kuala Lumpur.

However, Abdul Rauf insisted that Abdul Aziz had no role in the operation.

"Everyone knew him as the political secretary, but we did not implement what he said. Public servants don't take orders from a political secretary," he said.

The RCI conducting officers, who are representatives of the Attorney-General's Chambers, did not ask him to disclose why they were operating out of Abdul Aziz's home.

Yesterday, former Tamparuli district NRD chief Yakup Damsah, who was part of a so-called G17 unit based in the Sabah NRD headquarters in Kota Kinabalu, had revealed that they had an operation out of Abdul Aziz's house, where they signed identity cards meant for to immigrants.

When contacted yesterday, Abdul Aziz said he did not remember such events.

'We do not call them G17'

While admitting the existence of the operation, which he said was aimed at increasing Muslim voters and toppling the PBS government, Abdul Rauf denied that the group involved in the operation was termed as G17.

“We do not call them G17, there is no specific unit, it is just me and my officers from the districts who hold regular meetings on this matter,” he said.

Abdul Rauf added that the operation did not only provide illegal immigrants with identity cards, but also locals who lived in the interiors but did not have documentation.

He also confirmed that the Sabah NRD was responsible for issuing approval letters to allow children of immigrants to obtain birth certificates.

However, he denied assuring protection to his men, adding that he, too, knew of the risk of arrest then.

Abdul Rauf was in 1990 transferred from the National Security Council (NSC) to helm the Sabah NRD until 1992. He was later transferred back to the NSC under its intelligence division.

After the operation was discovered, he was in 1996 arrested under the Internal Security Act, but unlike his officers, most of whom were detained for more than two years, he was detained for only 60 days followed by five months of restricted residence.

Yesterday, Abdul Rauf’s successor in Sabah NRD, Ramli Kamarudin, had also implicated another Mahathir right hand man, former home minister Megat Junid Megat Ayub in an operation to allow immigrants to vote.

Under this subsequent operation, immigrants were issued with identity card receipts using the names and identity card numbers of existing people in the electoral roll who had never voted before or were dead.

The receipt is a temporary document given to applicants prior to being granted a proper blue identity card. This document is sufficient to qualify for voting.

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