TOP cop Hamid Bador, who retires today, said he has done his part in exposing political interference in police affairs and that it is now up to his successor to decide how best to deal with the problem.

Hamid said there is no need for him to lodge a report against Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin for alleged meddling in matters of the police force as he has already revealed the problem to the public.

“I will leave this matter to my successor Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani,” Hamid said in Bukit Aman today after the handover of duties ceremony.

“I will leave it to the good judgement of the new IGP.

“I have exposed (Hamzah’s alleged involvement) and I will leave it to the police officers to follow up on it. I don’t necessarily have to make a report.”

Hamzah was absent at the event and was represented by two of his deputies Dr Ismail Mohamed Said and Jonanthan Yassin.

No reason was provided during the event to explain Hamzah’s absence, but the minister has been at loggerheads with Hamid over the former’s alleged interference in the affairs of the police, in particular on the transfer of senior police officers.

Last Friday in his last press conference as the IGP,  Hamid took aim at Hamzah, stating that the minister had overstepped his boundary in meddling with police matters.

Hamid warned that the country was on a slippery slope if politicians were allowed to act in such a manner.

“A minister cannot interfere in the affairs of the police force. The minister is only empowered to set policies.

“Don’t get upset (when I say that) the home minister has too much power. Come on,” he told editors in a press conference at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.

Civil society groups and opposition politicians have also criticised Hamzah, who has admitted that he was one of the two voices in a leaked audio recording discussing who to promote to the post of IGP.

Hamzah declared he did not wrong is talking about the matter with a man whose identity is unknown but whom he described as a “very important person”.

Various groups have called for Hamzah to be sacked or at least suspended pending an investigation.

Acryl Sani, 59, who was made deputy IGP last August, took over from Hamid who was IGP for two years. – May 3, 2021.