‘We leave with a heavy heart’

GOF 3rd Battalion ends mission, but sadden officer’s murderers still free

PADANG BESAR: The mission of the General Operations Force (GOF) 3rd Battalion is still unfinished and incomplete even though their task of guarding the country’s borders on the Malaysia-Thailand border had ended.

“The mission is complete ... but we leave with a heavy heart as there is something incomplete because the rest of the smugglers involved in the shooting incident of our friends are still free.

“Although all 310 members of GOF 3rd Battalion managed to complete their duties well, we are saddened by the loss of Sarjan Baharuddin who is an experienced member,” said commanding officer Supt Rosman Kasman ( pic) here on Monday.

In the tragedy, two of their members were attacked by smugglers last week, leaving one dead and another seriously injured while some remaining criminals are still at large.

Yesterday was the last day of the one-month assignment of GOF 3rd Battalion based in Bidor, Perak, which will be replaced by GOF 2nd Battalion based in Kulim, Kedah.

On Nov 24, a GOF personnel, Sjn Baharuddin Ramli, 54, was killed while his friend Sjn Norihan Tari,

39, was seriously injured in a shootout with a group of smugglers, about 600m from the TS9 control post in Padang Besar.

The next day, another member on duty at Post M16 in Bukit Kayu Hitam was injured after being shot with an air rifle, believed to be by a smuggler.

Supt Rosman said his team had done their job with honesty and integrity even though there was always the element of danger in carrying out their duties at the border.

“But members of the Senoi Praaq have carried out their duties faithfully and according to every instruction given and throughout my assignment I did not receive any reports involving corruption because they have high discipline and integrity.”

He said the honesty embedded in each member of Senoi Praaq was a “legacy” inherited from the older generations until today.

“The recent shooting incident proves that members of Battalion 3 have high integrity and they are not intimidated by the country’s enemies,” he said.

He said since Op Bersepadu was launched, major ketum leaf smugglers had stopped their activities with only a few attempts by individual smugglers.

Meanwhile, he said his battalion planned to build a memorial at the location to commemorate the service of the dead GOF member to inspire other members in safeguarding the country’s borders.

“We will also build a football pavilion at the GOF Bidor Camp, Perak to fulfil the dream of the late Senoi Praaq member who loved football and the pavilion will be known as BahaBola in his honour,” he said.

In Kangar, police have obtained a court order to extend the seven-day remand on three Thai men in connection with a shootout between members of the GOF and smugglers.

The remand extension was to enable the police to complete investigation in the case involving the three suspects aged 34 to 38 years after the remand period against them ended on Tuesday, said Padang Besar district police chief Supt Saifudin Aslin Abbas.

The case is being investigated under Sections 302 and 307 of the Penal Code for murder and attempted murder.