Aidi speaks during the press conference. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (Jan 13): The crime index in Sarawak decreased to 4,298 cases in 2021 compared to 5,874 in 2020.
Sarawak police commissioner Datuk Aidi Ismail said this was well below the crime case threshold for the year set by Bukit Aman at 6,082 cases.
“Most major crime cases have seen a decrease in the past year. However, there is an increase in cases which involves commercial crimes,” Aidi told a press conference on the Sarawak police contingent’s achievements in 2021.
He said last year the Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) recorded 2,816 cases compared to 1,460 cases in 2020 – a 92.6 per cent increase.
In terms of losses, RM70.35 million was recorded in 2021 compared to RM66.5 million in 2020.
“On that note, we will continue to improve our efforts to bring the number of crimes down, especially those that involve commercial crimes,” said Aidi.
Touching on the Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department, Aidi said 6,607 suspects were arrested in 2021 compared to 10,294 suspects in 2020.
However, seized drugs rose from RM15.23 million in 2020 to RM19.86 million in 2021.
On the number of road accidents, Aidi said cases decreased from 16,152 in 2020 to 14,245 in 2021.
Police also issued a total of 206,418 summonses in 2021 compared to 203,196 in 2020 for various traffic offences.
During her presentation, CCID Sarawak head Supt Maria Rasid pointed out that the highest number of commercial crime cases involved online shopping fraud at 667 cases with losses amounting to RM3 million.
The highest losses involved Macau scam cases at RM8.6 million from 173 cases.
Other cases were 441 bogus loan cases (RM3.9 million), 155 investment cases (RM8.9 million), and 168 impersonation cases (RM2.2 million).
“Among the biggest achievements is the arrest of five members of a bogus vehicle selling syndicate, which involved a total of seven victims,” said Maria.
She added the five members, one of whom is a woman, aged between 31 and 39, have been charged in court.
In total, Sarawak CCID made 668 arrests in 2021 involving 1,078 cases.
A total of 616 suspects have been charged in court, involving 553 investigation papers.
She also highlighted hotline numbers set up by Bukit Aman to assist victims of scam or fraud cases.
“Please call the SCAM response centre at 03-26101559 or 03-26101599 between 8am and 8pm, or send a WhatsApp message to 013-2111222,” she added.
Also speaking at the press conference were the various department heads as well as the General Operations Force.
Among them were Sarawak CID head SAC Lukas Aket, who pointed out that the number of murder cases in Sarawak rose to 24 in 2021 compared to eight cases in 2020.
“Overall, the number of crime cases has dropped which is most likely due to movement restrictions and the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.