Man suing Anwar for sexual assault arrested, says guns and drugs planted in car

Police have arrested Muhammed Yusoff Rawther, the man who filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, after claiming to have found guns and drugs in his car.

His lawyer Rafique Rashid said Yusoff, who has been in custody since Sept 6 has strongly denied that the two pistols and 305g of ganja found in his car belonged to him.

He said his client had also passed a urine test.

"Yusoff said in his recorded statement that the guns and drugs were planted in his car by people who harboured a grudge or enmity against him," Rafique said.

Yusoff, the grandson of the late Penang consumer advocate SM Mohamed Idris, is being investigated under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and the Firearms Act 1960, and his remand expires tomorrow.

"Yusoff is concerned for his safety, not to mention that his civil cases involving influential people are still ongoing. These cases have their own sensitivities.

"Yusoff's family stands firmly by his side and hopes that the police will carry out their duties professionally," Rafique said.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has set June 16 next year as the trial date for Yusoff's sexual assault case against Anwar.

On July 14,2021, Yusoff, who is Anwar's former research assistant, filed the suit, alleging that the PKR leader sexually assaulted him in October 2018, days before he won the Port Dickson by-election.

He sought, among others, special, general, aggravated and exemplary damages as well as interest, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

Anwar, in his statement of defence filed on Sept 28, 2021, claimed that Yusoff had lied under oath to the authorities regarding the sexual assault.

Yusoff has filed a separate suit against Anwar's former political secretary Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak, claiming damages for the injuries he suffered after he was assaulted at Anwar’s bungalow office in Bukit Gasing, Petaling Jaya.

In October 2022, the Shah Alam Sessions Court ordered Anwar's press secretary, Tunku Nashrul Tunku Abaidah, to pay Yusoff RM200,000 in damages for statements made in connection with the assault on Farhash.

Tunku Nashrul was also ordered to publicly apologise to Yusoff over his media statement in 2019, where he denied an assault incident involving Farhash which Yusoff claimed had taken place at Anwar's office.