The Kelantan royal household has been rocked by a succession tussle involving the sultan's two sons.
KUALA LUMPUR: A video showing the Sultan of Kelantan Tuanku Ismail Petra Sultan Yahya Petra's convoy being ambushed by armed balaclava-clad special operations force personnel has been obtained by FMT.
The short video clip, which was recorded by the sultan’s personal bodyguard, showed the sultan leaving their royal palace in an entourage of vehicles heading towards the airport in a Toyota Alphard.
Just after the sultan left the palace gate, a white police car, a Proton Perdana, came between the sultan’s car and that of the personal bodyguard.
As they were driving along, the entourage came to a standstill when the sultan was ambushed by cars from all sides of the road (1.10 minutes elapsed).
A grey Proton Waja is seen on the left while a silver Honda CRV on the right, all of which were carrying armed balaclava-clad special force personnel.
The police came out of their respective vehicles, pointing their guns at the sultan’s car and his personal bodyguard.
Conflicting statement
Last month, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in a June 10 parliamentary reply to Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo that
the group's purpose was not to ambush the sulltan but to ensure maximum security for the sultan during his journey to the hospital.
However, Gobind said the video proved otherwise.
“The reply given by the minister is inaccurate, misleading, wholly unbelievable and clearly unacceptable. The video proves there was an ambush.
“It clearly shows that the armed men forcefully stopped the sultan (and those with him) and pointed their weapons at them," he said.
Gobind added that the sultan's entourage was escorted by the police from the palace and he was on his way to the airport at the time and not to any hospital in Kelantan.
The Puchong MP, who is one of the lawyers representing the sultan, demanded that Hishammuddin clears the air.
"I call upon the minister to explain why there are such glaring inaccuracies in his response as compared to the video.
"This strikes at the credibility of our home minister. Can we believe him? Should we believe him? If not, is he fit to be the home minister at all?" he added.
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Hishammuddin must explain
The Puchong MP, who is one of the lawyers representing the sultan, demanded that Hishammuddin clears the air.
"I call upon the minister to explain why there are such glaring inaccuracies in his response as compared to the video.
“This is a very serious matter as we cannot afford to have ministers replying to questions and making serious mistakes as seen here,” he said.
"This strikes at the credibility of our home minister. Can we believe him? Should we believe him? If not, is he fit to be the home minister at all?" he added.
