BATU PAHAT: Police today visited a factory here which was allegedly involved in the distribution and packaging of the socks bearing the word "Allah", which has sparked nationwide outrage.
District police chief Assistant Commissioner Ismail Dollah said 40 policemen visited the Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd factory at 9am today.
He said police later seized five pairs of the controversial socks found with the word "Allah" printed on them.
He said the factory management had given full cooperation to the police team.
Police established that the factory had imported 16 bundles, or 18,800 pairs of the socks, which were later distributed to three KK Super Mart outlets.
These included two outlets in Bandar Sunway and one in Sunway Mentari, all of which have returned the socks to the factory.
Investigations also revealed that the socks were imported from China and the factory was only involved in packaging and distributing them.
Ismail said investigations were ongoing and confirmed that no other socks bearing the word 'Allah' were found besides those that had been seized.
Police are investigating the case under Section 298 A of the Penal Code for insulting a religion and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code for causing mischief by circulating statements, or materials.
Ismail said a parallel investigation was also being carried out by the Bukit Aman police.
He urged all organisations, NGOs, and individuals to refrain from actions that violate the law, including flash mobs, gatherings, or demonstrations related to this issue.
He said any action that could disrupt public order and contravene existing laws would be dealt with accordingly.
Earlier today, the Regent of Johor His Royal Highness Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim instructed authorities to take stern action on the issue of the word "Allah."
Tunku Ismail said that such measures need to be taken to ensure that issues like this do not recur.
"The word 'Allah' is a sacred word deeply revered by Muslims.
"Regarding the recent issue, I urge the authorities to take decisive action on this matter and ensure that such issues do not happen again," he was quoted as saying.