Police to continue investigating for new leads

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KUALA LUMPUR: Police will continue investigating for new leads on the Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight, even though the examination of a simulator belonging to its pilot Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah found nothing suspicious.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the police would not depend solely on the simulator to determine the cause of the tragedy.

“The Royal Malaysian Police are taking several actions to find new leads. Our investigation will not be based on a certain individual or group only,” he told reporters after chairing the annual general meeting of the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) here yesterday.

Ahmad Zahid said the simulator was first examined by the police before being handed over to the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who conducted a forensics inspection but found no suspicious data in it. Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, left the KL International Airport at 12.41am on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later. It was to have landed in Beijing at 6.30am the same day.

On March 24, Najib announced that following an unprecedented type of satellite data analysis, United Kingdom satellite company Inmarsat and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch had concluded that Flight MH370 had ‘ended in the southern Indian Ocean’, west of Perth, Australia.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said Standard Operating Procedures for security at all the country’s entry points, especially at the KL International Airport, was constantly enhanced in collaboration with Immigration, Malaysia Airports Berhad and Malaysia Airlines.

“We are also improving our system, by installing the Advanced Passenger Screening System in mid-June this year. Its a proactive move to prevent the entry of foreign criminals. The system enables us to screen individuals identified as criminals, black listed or wanted by authorities,” he said. — Bernama