‘Cops raiding ‘mushrooming’ cyber gambling dens daily’
KUCHING: The police are now making daily raids on cyber gambling premises as they are mushrooming in the state again following a brief period of inactivity.
State deputy police commissioner Dato Dr Chai Khin Chung said police had conducted 5,003 raids against suspected cyber gambl ing premises across the state since last January.
“We conducted three operations last night ( Tuesday), and a total of 18 in the past week. From January until now ( yesterday), we did 5,003 raids, of which 120 were successful,” he said when met by reporters after leading a gathering to mark the 208th Police Day here yesterday.
Whenever we know of a place (for cyber gambling), we will conduct a raid. It is an on-going process. To the public and also YBs, if you have any information regarding such places, forward the information to us and we will raid.
Dato Dr Chai Khin Chung, State deputy police commissioner
On a recent claim made by Stampin MP Julian Tan that such premises were mushrooming all over the state, Chai assured that police were working hard to tackle the problem.
“Whenever we know of a place ( for cyber gambling), we will conduct a raid. It is an on- going process. To the public and also YBs, if you have any information regarding such places, forward the information to us and we will raid.”
He added that police were now taking matters a step further by get ting Sarawak Energy Board ( SEB) to disconnect the electricity supply to suspected cyber gambling premises, and warned shop owners not to rent their properties to cyber gambling operators or risk having power supply cut.
On a separate matter, the deputy commissioner said the state’s crime index thus far this year had declined by 10.97 per cent, or 206 cases, compared to the corresponding period last year.
Sibu, he said, recorded the largest drop in reported crime cases, at nearly 45 percent, followed by Sarikei with 37 percent.
In terms of solving rate, Chai said state police had achieved a 44.6 percent solving rate for all cases so far this year.
“We are very encouraged by the high solving rate but are actually more encouraged by the cooperation given to us by the public, which enabled us to solve many cases in a short span of time.
“The response is very good, and it shows the community is warming up to the police and giving their full support to us.”
At the state-level 208th Police Day gathering, Chai presented commendation certificates to officers and rank- and- file personnel led by Miri police chief ACP Gan Thiang Kee and Sibu police chief ACP Mohd Kamal Kordi.
The gathering at state police headquarters here was attended by senior police officers, heads of government departments and agencies, and retired police personnel.