PETALING JAYA: Former top cop Tan Sri JJ Raj (Jr) passed away early Saturday morning at the age of 100.

       The retired police comissioner, who was a hero in leading the police's Tiger Squad in rescuing police personnel in Bukit Kepong in 1950, passed away at the Ara Damansara Medical Centre at about 1.55am Saturday (Nov 6).

       On behalf of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani extended his condolences to the late police officer's family.

       The height of Raj's career was being appointed Bukit Aman Management Department director in 1974. He retired in 1976.

       The deceased's body will be brought to the Nirvana Memorial Park in Shah Alam for funeral arrangements on Saturday evening.

       "His contributions and sacrifice are priceless and his passing is a big loss to the police force and the country," the police said in a statement.

       Raj was born on July 27, 1921, in Chemor, Perak. He received his early education at St. Michael’s Institution in Ipoh, Perak.

       He married Puan Sri Datin Seri Irene Raj in 1952 and they were blessed with four children and three grandchildren.

       He had a distinguished record of service in the police, serving with distinction for 30 years.

       Joining the police force in 1946 as a Probationary Inspector, Raj then attended Ryton-on-Dunsmore Police Training College, Coventry, United Kingdom and Joint Services Staff College, Latimer, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom.

       Upon returning to then Malaya, he completed his training at the Police Training Centre in Gurney Road (now Jalan Semarak).

       He rose through the ranks in the police force serving as OCPD of Pagoh (1950), OCPD of Tangkak (1952), OCPD of Kuala Kangsar (1954), OCPD of Kulim (1955), OCPD of Segamat (1957), OCPD of Kuala Lumpur [then a district in Selangor] (1958) and deputy police chief of Negri Sembilan (1959).

       He then served as the police chief (CPO) of Pahang (1961), Commandant of the Royal Malaysian Police College in Kuala Kubu Baru (1964), CPO of Negri Sembilan (1967), Deputy Commissioner of Police of Sarawak (1969) and CPO of Selangor (1973).

       Tan Sri Datuk Seri JJ Raj (Jr) during his last salute on retiring from the police force in 1976. With him are Tun Hanif Omar (left), the then Inspector-General Police and his deputy Tan Sri Mahmood Md Yunus (right). - file picture

       Raj served during some of the most tumultuous years in our nation's history and was the OCPD of Pagoh during the Bukit Kepong Incident on February 23, 1950.

       Just nine hours before the attack on the Bukit Kepong Police Station, he and his team were there at the police station for an inspection and security briefing.

       Raj and his team arrived in the morning and had spent the whole day there, leaving only at 7pm in the evening. At about 4.30am (approximately nine hours after he and his team left), the Communist insurgents attacked the police station.

       Upon receiving news of the attack, Raj who was already back in Pagoh, rushed with his Tiger Squad to Bukit Kepong to save them.

       On the way there, they had found that the Communists had set fire to their Police Boat

       Due to this, he and his Tiger Squad had to traverse the thick jungle and swamps for three hours to reach Bukit Kepong.

       By the time they arrived, the Bukit Kepong Police Station had already been badly burnt. Raj acted quickly and started relief efforts immediately and located those severely wounded, giving them emergency first aid treatment.