KUALA LUMPUR – Six employees of the Era FM radio station, including three announcers involved in a video clip that caused offence to Hindus, were present at Bukit Aman today to have their statements recorded.
The three announcers are Nabil Ahmad, Azad Jasmin, and Radin Amir, who face allegations of mocking religious ceremonies of other faiths.
The trio arrived at around 10:30 a.m. in a black Toyota Vellfire, while the other three employees arrived separately, according to Bernama.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain previously stated that they would be questioned by the Classified Crime Investigation Unit (USJT) of Bukit Aman’s Criminal Investigation Department.
To date, 44 police reports have been filed nationwide regarding the video in question, and the case is being investigated under Section 298 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Razarudin yesterday said police checks revealed that the video had been viewed 95,400 times and shared by 204 users on social media. The clips has since been deleted by the radio station.
The three Era FM radio announcers, who host the 3 Pagi Era show, issued a public apology on Instagram yesterday for the controversial video, which was perceived as mocking the kavadi rite, a ritual performed at Thaipusam.
They were also suspended from their segment by Astro Audio until further notice while an internal investigation is conducted into the allegations.
This morning, the trio went to Batu Caves to make another apology, this time to representatives of the temple management there.
Meanwhile, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has also directed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to conduct a thorough investigation into complaints about Astro radio station employees mocking religious ceremonies of other faiths, which were uploaded on social media platforms.
Fahmi said, among other things, that MCMC should summon Astro and Era FM radio station management to MCMC headquarters to provide a full explanation. – March 5, 2025