TO PROTECT her then boyfriend, a narcotics officer deleted his
mobile and messages on a suspected drug offender's cellphone.
Not only that, Norini Mohamed Aloon also tipped off her then
boyfriend, Imran Mohamed, 33, that one Feroz Khan Surattee, 41, had
been arrested.
Feroz's phone had been seized by the Central Narcotics Bureau
after a party of officers arrested him at his Circuit Road flat on
Feb 18 last year for possession and consumption of a controlled
drug.
CNB officer Mohammad Khairudin Rahmat, 28, found a text message
on Feroz's phone from a mobile used by Imran saying that Imran
would contact Feroz later to collect some heroin.
Mr Khairudin also noticed there were other messages involving
Imran's number on Feroz's phone.
As they were leaving the flat, he handed the phone to Norini for
safe-keeping.
On their way to the van, Norini checked Feroz's mobile and
noticed Imran's number in various folders.
She quickly deleted all contents relating to Imran's mobile from
the text message and call folders of Feroz's cellphone.
The number which Imran used was actually subscribed by Norini's
brother, Nordin, 35, who had allowed her to let Imran use the SIM
card.
When Mr Khairudin later realised that some of the text messages
had been deleted, he alerted his superior.
On being confronted, Norini admitted that she had deleted some
of the text messages in Feroz's mobile to screen her boyfriend and
brother from CNB investigation and prosecution.
Norini was jailed for seven months on Wednesday after she
admitted to destroying evidence and communicating secret
information to an unauthorised person.
She could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined for
destroying electronic record.
Under the Official Secrets Act, she could have been fined up to
$2,000 and jailed for up to two years.
--ST
