Police say church attack was rumour

IGP says police are hunting down the person who spread the false news via Facebook.

KUALA LUMPUR: The police today dismissed as false, news circulating on Facebook that a church in Jalan Raja Laut here was attacked and torched.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, when contacted by Bernama, said the news was untrue and warned of action against the Facebook account holder who spread the information.

“Not true. We will take action against the owner of the Facebook account,” he said.

The holder of the account went by the name of ‘Ayahnda (rpt) Ayahnda Raja Provokasi’ and claimed that the incident involved the Malay right-wing organisation, Perkasa. The individual also uploaded a picture.

Khalid said the people were advised not to believe such false information or circulate or share it because it was irresponsible and could undermine public order and the daily life of the people.

Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali condemned the act of circulating the false information and picture, and said it was done with malice.

“Perkasa has identified the holder of the FB account. Tomorrow, we will lodge a complaint with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC),” he said.

Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali, when contacted by Bernama, said the time had come for the government to work with Facebook to control the circulation of harmful information.

This was to ensure that account holders did not circulate false information at their whims and fancies, more so libel and threats which undermined national well-being, he said.

“If there is no control, there will be people who will continue to make libellous statements like this. Then, we will lodge police reports, but they will carry on circulating such information, and we will again lodge police reports. When will all this end?” he said.

- BERNAMA