Missing guns: Only 37, not 44, says IGP

The IGP is also brought to task for making assumptions that the missing guns are in the deep end of the sea bed.

PETALING JAYA: Inspector-General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar today affirmed that only 37 guns belonging to police personnel went still missing instead of 44 as published in the Auditor-General’s report which was released yesterday.

In a short SMS conversation this afternoon, Khalid clarified that seven guns have been recovered by the police.

“Correct, in between the issuance of the [AG[ report, the balance has been recovered,” he said when asked to comment on the matter.

He then confirmed that the missing guns did not fall into the hands of criminals and added that there were also cases where the weapons could have fallen into the sea during certain operations.

“There are cases that weapons fell into the sea or river but not all of them. Every police weapon has individual ballistic identity and so far we have not come across our weapons being used by any criminal to commit offence,” he said.

Khalid told FMT that the missing guns could also be due to police negligence and car break-ins.

“There are also cases involving car break-ins and negligence from our officers,” he added.

According to the Auditor-General’s 2012 report, the police lost assets worth RM1.33 million in the past three years, including firearms, handcuffs and even vehicles.

The report noted that between 2010 and 2012, the police lost 156 units of handcuffs, 44 units of firearms, 29 vehicles, 26 walkie-talkies, 22 radios, six cameras, four computers, one cell-phone and 21 unspecified items.

Wild guess

Meanwhile, Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) today lashed out at the IGP’s statement on guns accidentally falling into sea or rivers, saying that the senior police officer should have not come out with such reasoning.

“The people want an explanation or an answer not a theory,” said SAMM’s propaganda director Edy Noor Reduan.

The group then slammed Khalid on his remarks that the weapons did not fall into the wrong hands, questioning the chief of police’s statement.

“How did he know that the guns did not fall into the wrong hands? There have been cases where guns were stolen from police patrol cars while the officers were asleep.

“He also said that the guns might have fallen into the sea, which is a wild guess. So how many guns have fallen into the sea now? Can he come up with a statistic?” Edy added.

SAMM urged Khalid and PDRM to come up with a more responsible approach as crime rate is increasing with more gun related crimes reported.