KUCHING: The nine police officers who are being probed for allegedly extorting a businessman in Gombak, Selangor, should have been dismissed instead of being transferred to Sabah and Sarawak.
Deputy Minister of Utility and Telecommunication Datuk Liwan Lagang, who joined the growing chorus of criticism against the move, said the problematic policemen were not welcomed in Sarawak.
“They are not welcome in Sarawak and much less here in Belaga,” he said.
“They should have been dismissed right away as they have been proven to be a liability to the force,” he insisted in a statement yesterday.
Liwan, who is also Belaga assemblyman, expressed his disappointment and questioned why Sarawak and Sabah have been used as a dumping ground for ‘rotten apples’.
Sarawak, he said, with its huge and challenging geographical terrain should be administered by the best government officers, especially law enforcement officers from the federal government to serve the people here.
“Since those nine policemen have been probed for their involvement in blackmailing and extortion, why only transfer them? Is that (extortion) not strong enough a reason to dismiss them right away?” he asked.
He was commenting on Selangor deputy police chief Datuk S Sasikala Devi recently revealing that nine policemen were arrested to assist in the investigation into an alleged extortion case involving a businessman, believed to be related to a drugs issue, in Gombak recently.
She disclosed that all the policemen, of the rank of constable up to sub-inspector, were arrested at the Gombak district police headquarters.
She said the arrests followed a report received from the 32-year-old businessman on July 26.
Sasikala also said that investigation was being conducted under Section 384 of the Penal Code in addition to disciplinary investigation which will be carried out.
Liwan, who is also Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) vice president, said the policemen should be put under arrest and not allowed to roam around freely and even posted to Sarawak and Sabah.
“It is enough that oftentimes those criminals banished to Sarawak under the Restricted Residence Act have created suspicion and uneasiness among the local people, and now they are posting rotten apples to Sarawak,” he said.
“Sarawak is not a rubbish dump,” he stressed.
