Police confident of ensuring security during SEA Games

KUALA LUMPUR: The police are ready to face any terror threat or situation that may arise during the SEA Games which is set to take centre stage in a matter of 15 days.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said while there is still a little tweaking and fine-tuning to be done, the force is generally prepared to ensure safety during the duration of the games.

“I assure all athletes, visitors, officials and everyone else coming for the games that we are ready to protect them and ensure their safety which is the priority,” he said at the Ex-Rimau training operations at the Cheras Police Academy yesterday in preparation for the SEA Games.

Throughout last month, Ex-Rimau has been having its operations in various hotspots around the country such as the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, KLCC and KL Sentral.

“We are satisfied with the whole series of Ex-Rimau exercises ... We want to be ready to face any eventuality and threat, be it foreign or domestic.”

Some 12,000 police personnel from various departments will be on hand to monitor security during the games.

Earlier, the final training exercise was carried out here in the form of a mock hostage situation where terrorists had hijacked a bus and held some athletes hostage.

The police demonstrated their skill at storming the bus and retrieving the athletes.

Several policemen from the Vat69 commando unit were dropped by a helicopter to deal with the “threatening” situation.

Present were Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, his deputy Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Khalid Abu Bakar, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, among other dignitaries.