Missing guns: 12 held

MALACCA: Police have arrested 12 Rela personnel in connection with the theft of 26 shotguns from t he Rela Northern Region Training Centre in Selama, Perak, earlier this month.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said with the arrest of the suspects, police also recovered 11 shotguns and 300 rounds of ammunition.

Of the 12 Rela officers aged between 39 and 56, Khalid said one had been found to be the seller, while the rest were his customers.

He said police have also identified other buyers of the stolen weapons.

“To those who purchased the weapons, it's best to come forward and surrender yourself instead of waiting for us to come after you.”

He said police expect to make more arrests in the Klang Valley soon, and have ruled out the possibility of the stolen arms being sold to people in neighbouring countries.

Meanwhile, sources told the issue came to light following an audit conducted by the police Firearms Licensing Enforcement Unit on the training centre.

In follow-up operations, Serious Crimes Division (D9) officers raided several locations in Perak and Kedah since Wednesday, leading to the initial arrest of the suspects and the recovery of the weapons, ammunition and a box containing a set of weapon-cleaning equipment.

“The ammunition comprised Shotshell Buckshot Remington, Mega Buckshot and MB Classic cartridges, which were found in separate boxes.

“A big- scale raid was subsequently conducted in Bukit Merah, Kerian, Selama, Bagan Serai in Perak, and in Serdang, Kedah.

“We believe the suspects were involved in buying and storing weapons in several locations, including in the jungle area around Gerik,” the source added.

It is learnt that the shotguns were illegally sold to the buyers for between RM2,000 and RM3,000 each.

The auditor-general in his 2012 report revealed that 44 firearms belonging to the police had gone missing over a three-year period, together with 156 pairs of handcuffs, 29 vehicles, 26 sets of walkietalkies, 22 radios, six cameras, four computers, a cellphone and 21 other unspecified items.

On the loss of the missing items worth RM1.33 million, the auditor-general had criticised the poor management of assets, noting the:

late discovery of the assets having gone missing;

delay in reporting losses to the department head;

department head’s delay in preparing an initial report on the missing assets; and

delay in action following a report on missing assets.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had pledged then that disciplinary action would be taken against those found guilty of losing the weapons while under their watch.