Khalid, testifying at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) inquiry into the disappearance of Amri, said he only found out about the latter’s case after reading the news.

“From there I found out that he was a subject of a missing persons’ case. Later on I asked one of my officers what actually happened, and was informed that a missing persons’ case had been filed.

“I cannot recall who informed me, but since the report was made in Perlis, so (it is) somebody from Perlis,” he told the inquiry today.

To a question by Suhakam officers on whether Amri was under surveillance and if he had ever been under surveillance, Khalid said the case was no more than a missing persons’ case, with inquiry papers opened to investigate the case of a missing person.

“There was no briefing on Amri’s case. Since the case was being talked about a lot on social media, I asked about the case, but unofficially,” he said.

On whether there was a task force set up to investigate Amri, Khalid said to his knowledge, there was none.

To a question by Amri’s lawyer Larissa Anne Louis as to whether the activist had been put under surveillance because he was a Shia follower, even though evidence had shown he was not a threat, the former top cop said:

“I cannot confirm whether Amri was put under surveillance. As I said, I was not very aware of this case,” he added.

Amri, who co-founded an NGO called Perlis Hope, went missing on Nov 24, 2016. His wife previously said that five vehicles had blocked his car before he was whisked away, some 500m from their home in Bukit Chabang, Perlis.