Medal of honour for police dog

JOHOR BARU: A police service dog, Murat, was honoured with a “Jasamu Di Kenang” medal while his handler received a certificate of recognition for helping police arrest a robber in Simpang Rengam recently.

Murat, a German Shepherd from the Segamat K9 unit which served the police force for eight years, and his handler L/Cpl Hardrin Ngkang, received their respective awards from Johor police chief Datuk Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd at the state police contingent’s monthly assembly at Dataran Kawad FRU here yesterday.

Murat is believed to be the first police dog in the state to be bestowed with such an award by the force.

Hardrin, 30, from Sarawak, is attached to the same unit.

Wan Ahmad said the case happened on Nov 16 when police, who were chasing a robbery suspect from Kulai to Simpang Rengam, lost him when he abandoned his car and jumped into a river during a downpour.

He said it was Murat which managed to track him down, leading to the suspect’s arrest.

“Murat helped police solve other criminal cases. With the arrests of the suspect, police solved six robbery cases and another involving a missing person,” he said.

Earlier, Wan Ahmad said the police had successfully reduced the crime index for the first 10 months of this year by 3.9% compared with the same period last year.