THE Home Ministry will tighten control at the Kelantan-Thailand entry/exit points following the rise in serious crime including murder using firearms in the state of late.
Its minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this would include the involvement of the Anti-Smuggling Unit to monitor and thwart smuggling of firearms from the neighbouring country into the state.
“We admit there has been slackness in control of entry/exit movements at the Kelantan-Thailand border over the state’s residents as they have blood ties (with their Thai counterparts).
“However, with the increase in (crime) cases in Kelantan, we will take drastic action which includes increasing assets towards crime prevention at the border areas,” he said in reply to a supplementary question from Tan Sri Annuar Musa (BN-Ketereh) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Annuar wanted to know the action the government would take in what was seen as increasing serious crime like murder in Kelantan, including that of Hashim Mat Zin, 43, a teacher of Sekolah Kebangsaan Beris Panchor in Bachok who was gunned down by an identified person while driving out of the school on Monday.
In this regard, Ahmad Zahid urged the Kelantan government to cooperate with his ministry in combating crime in the state.
To the original question from Datuk Abdul Rahman Mohamad (BN-Lipis) on police plans and action to curb crime, the minister drew attention to the setting up of the Crime Prevention Department recently.
He said various special operations were also conducted to combat street crime like snatch theft, robbery and car theft.
“The Royal Malaysian Police has also set up the Integrated Intelligence Unit as a centre for the gathering of information and for intelligence work on crime,” Ahmad Zahid said.
He said it was aimed at detecting and nabbing criminals more effectively, besides planning more effective crime-prevention measures. — Bernama