WHY is Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his Perikatan Nasional (PN) government keeping mum over claims by the country’s top cop of “cartels” and corrupt practices within the police force, DAP lawmaker Gobind Singh Deo said.

The Puchong MP said the government’s failure to address the issue which has been in the public domain for more than a month was of great concern.

“The prime minister has yet to take any firm stand on the issue. 

“The prime minister must play a role in matters of this magnitude to convince the people that actions will be taken to clean the police department from cartels and corruption problems, and also to further strengthen the Integrity and Standard Compliance Department (JIPS),” Gobind said in a Facebook post today. 

He was commenting on allegations that were made public by Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Abdul Hamid Bador, among them, the existence of groups or “cartels” of officers in the force who wanted to get rid of him for his harsh stance against corrupt cops. Hamid is due to retire next month.

Gobind said it was unfortunate that Hamid’s claims could not be discussed in Parliament because proceedings have been suspended due to the current state of emergency, purportedly to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

As such, he posed 10 questions to Muhyiddin on the matter:

1. Is it true that there are cartels and a culture of corruption in PDRM as revealed by the IGP? 

2. Does it involve senior police officers as disclosed? 

3. If true, isn’t corruption within the jurisdiction of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)? 

4. Why is there no action by the MACC on this matter? 

5. Is it true that JIPS is trying to cover up police misconduct as alleged? 

6. If true, what action will be taken and when will this be addressed? 

7. There is a request for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to be set up to investigate this matter and make recommendations as to the action to be taken. What is the government’s position on this matter? 

8. What is the status of the internal investigation announced so far? 

9. Does the government agree that corruption cases can and should be investigated internally and is this a new policy of the PN government? 

10. If not, is it true that this case is being investigated internally by PDRM only and if so, why is it different from other cases?

In a live interview with Malay daily, Sinar Harian, last month, Hamid said there were junior police officers linked to cartels who were out to tarnish his image and get him out of the force.

Hamid, who was made IGP during the Pakatan Harapan administration in May 2019, has taken a tough stance against corruption in the force.

In March 2020, during a presentation of the Pingat Jasa Malaysia (PJM) in Kelantan, Hamid expressed his frustration over the alleged corrupt practices among police personnel.

In September the same year, he instructed Bukit Aman’s Integrity and Standard Compliance Department (JIPS) and Bukit Aman’s Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (JSJK) to carry out investigations into allegations that police officers had protected money laundering activities.

In January this year, Hamid sternly warned his men that they will be dismissed if found protecting criminals or taking bribes.

In his latest salvo, the IGP blew his top when reports came out that an officer from the Penang Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) had released suspects involved in a Macau Scam.

Gobind had earlier urged the IGP to lodge a police report on alleged attempts by groups of subordinate officers to bring him down.

He also said that MACC must not stay silent over possible graft practices in the police force as alleged by the IGP. – April 20, 2021.