Aidi (centre) witnessing the handing over of duties from CID acting head ACP Zulfikar Ghazali (left) to SAC Mat Zani @ Mohd Salahuddin Che Ali at the Sarawak Police Contingent headquarters this morning.
KUCHING (Nov 27): A special task force under the Sarawak Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will be formed to tackle the increasing number of house break-ins and thefts in the state, said Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Aidi Ismail.
He stressed that house break-ins needed to be tackled immediately, especially in major districts such as Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu.
“I believe that with the experience and expertise of our new CID head SAC Mat Zani @ Mohd Salahuddin Che Ali, he will be able to form a special task force to tackle this issue,” Aidi told a press conference held at the Sarawak Contingent Police headquarters this morning.
Earlier, Aidi witnessed the handing over of duties from CID acting head ACP Zulfikar Ghazali to SAC Mat Zani @ Mohd Salahuddin Che Ali.
The current trend of burglars, said Aidi, is to break into houses which are left unoccupied.
“Most of these houses are unoccupied as the home owners are back in their village or staying somewhere else,” said Aidi.
When asked by reporters if the Movement Control Order (MCO) was influencing people to turn to crime, Aidi dismissed the notion.
“We cannot use the MCO as an excuse. The government have already provided various assistance for the people to continue on with their lives during this period,” he added.
On another note, Aidi gave assurance that the overall crime index in Sarawak was still under control and had even seen a decrease to the number of motorbike and car thefts.
Touching on other issues, the Sarawak CID, he said, is constantly on the ground to tackle illegal online gambling, illegal lotteries and cock-fighting activities as seen in the number of raids and arrests.
He also said the police especially the General Operations Force (GOF) and Marine Police will continue to safeguard the Malaysia – Indonesia border at land or sea from border crimes.
“There have been a lot of successful seizures of illicit cigarettes, alcoholic drinks, petrol and timber this year,” said Aidi.
He added that so far, there are no threats of smugglers who uses firearms unlike the recent shoot out cases in Semenanjung between the authorities and smugglers.
Meanwhile, Mat Zani in his inaugural address as the Sarawak CID head expressed his gratitude to the Royal Malaysia Police for their trust in his appointment.
“I will do my best for the people of Sarawak. I also believe that the state’s crime index can be lowered with the cooperation from each police departments,” said Mat Zani.
Also present were Sarawak Police Deputy Commissioner Dato’ Fisol Salleh, various police department heads and the district police chiefs.
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