THE Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) will be used to arrest those responsible for polluting Selangor’s raw water sources if their actions were sabotage, Inspector General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador said today.

Hamid said he had instructed Selangor police to head investigations into the recent pollution of Sungai Selangor, which occurred twice in three days over the weekend and caused water supply disruption to more than a million households in the Klang Valley.

“We take this very seriously. We will charge under the most serious law, if we make (any) arrests.

“It is appropriate to arrest those sabotaging any basic amenities under Sosma and to be charged under the most of serious of laws,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2019-2023 event in Kuala Lumpur today.

In the past, Hamid said, those found guilty of sabotaging essential services could have been held under the Internal Security Act. 

The ISA, which allows for detention without trial, was repealed in 2012.

Sosma replaced the ISA and also allows for detention without trial, but up to 28 days.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari, as well as Selangor police chief Noor Azam Jamaludin yesterday said the diesel spill which polluted Sg Selangor on Sunday could have elements of sabotage. – July 23, 2019.