Police say victims were the children of employees working for a business group allegedly in charge of the homes.

Warning: The story below contains details about abuse in care homes.

Malaysian authorities have rescued more than 400 children suspected of being sexually and physically abused at charity homes run by a prominent business group, police said.

Following coordinated raids on 20 premises across two states on Wednesday, police rescued 402 children and arrested 171 adults – including religious teachers and caretakers, according to Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain.

The homes were run by Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB), Razarudin said.

Religious authorities in Selangor state on Thursday widened their investigation into GISB, which said it did not run the homes.

Those rescued included 201 boys and 201 girls, aged between one and 17, after reports were filed this month that alleged neglect, abuse, sexual harassment and molestation, Razarudin told a news conference.

He did not say who the reports were from.

The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) said it had asked police to hand over any teaching material seized during the raids in Selangor and Negeri Sembilanto states, so it could decide if any offences were committed under Islamic laws, which are implemented alongside secular laws in the country’s dual-track legal system.

GISB said in a statement: “It is not our policy to do things that go against Islam and the laws.”

Preliminary police investigations determined that the affected children were the sons and daughters of Malaysian employees of GISB, a self-described “Islamic” company involved in businesses ranging from supermarkets to laundromats.

Razarudin said the children were sent to the homes shortly after they were born, and that they had been subjected to multiple forms of abuse, allegedly sexually abused by adult guardians and later taught to sexually abuse other children.

“Those who were sick were not allowed to seek medical attention until their condition became critical,” he said. Some young children were also burned with a hot spoon when they made mistakes, and caretakers had touched the children’s bodies as if to conduct medical checks, he said.

He said the children would be temporarily housed at a police training centre in the capital Kuala Lumpur and would undergo health checks.

Police believed that GISB, which operates in a number of countries, including Indonesia, Singapore, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and France, exploited the children and used religious sentiments to collect donations, said Razarudin.

‘Shocked and appalled’

The case is being investigated under laws covering sexual offences against children and human trafficking.

Two of the premises raided were registered with the state government as Islamic schools, JAIS said in a statement on Thursday.

The department had monitored the schools as recently as July but found no offences had been committed. It said it would investigate further and take appropriate action should any violations be found.

A GISB spokesperson said on Thursday that the group will cooperate with authorities.

GISB has been linked to the now-defunct Malaysia-based Al-Arqam religious sect, which was banned by the government in 1994. On its website, the company says that its aim is “to develop the Islamic way of life”.

Robert Gass, a representative in Malaysia for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said on Thursday that the organisation was “deeply shocked and appalled” by the alleged abuse and called for long-term professional medical and psychosocial support for the children.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies