Probe all reports on illegal acts

IT is very heartening to note that the police and the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission (MACC) are taking action on illegal activities, particularly gaming and vice, in Sungai Buloh soon after a concerned netizen viralled the issue on social media.

Illegal gaming is a scourge and the authorities must undertake serious and concerted enforcement to stamp out this nefarious activity.

With the economy impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the mushrooming of such activities is inevitable. Nonetheless, the enforcement authorities must play their part in seriously curbing these activities.

When I was officer in charge of the police district (OCPD) of Kampar in 2000, there was a directive from our then director of CID, now the late Datuk Seri Salleh Md. Som, telling all OCPDs to ensure that there were no illegal gaming/vice dens within a kilometre of any police station. The directive further warned that OCPDs were accountable for any such activities within the 1km radius. Whatever happened to that directive?

The Sungai Buloh saga is a wakeup call for the police to really look into this issue. The police should go beyond Sungai Buloh and embark on a nationwide blitz. Police must be steadfast in this effort.

Information channelled to them by members of the public must be viewed with seriousness and the police must be thankful for the reports. The success of the police depends on information from the public because the public are their eyes and ears, as per the tagline “Police Dan Masyarakat Berpisah Tiada (police and community are never divided).”

I wish the very best to the Royal Malaysia Police.