KUALA LUMPUR – In a biting rebuke, the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) today said that former inspector-general of police (IGP) Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador has lost all right to make any comment on the alleged existence of a cartel in the police force.
The EAIC’s commissioners said they had unanimously found that he did not provide any evidence to support his own allegations on the matter.
In a statement today, they said that he had refused to have his statements recorded further to provide elaboration on the issue he had raised.
“He also did not name any officer involved in this cartel issue,” they said.
“In fact, he admitted that as the IGP, he had never raised the issue of this cartel in any meeting involving the directors of Bukit Aman’s police departments.”
They said this in response to Hamid’s recent reported remarks calling the EAIC’s investigation into the alleged cartel within the force as “shallow and incorrect.”
On February 22, the commission had announced that it could not verify the claims made by Hamid.
The commission had however revealed that its investigations managed to unearth the involvement of officers with criminal syndicates.
In March last year, Hamid, during his final press conference before retiring, had alleged the existence of cartels within the force plotting his downfall as the then-IGP.
In the explosive press conference, he had also claimed that there were corrupt officers and personnel within the Police Force Commission (SPP) who were using their positions to influence the appointment and promotions of officers.
The EAIC statement today was signed by chairman Tan Sri Sidek Hassan, deputy chairman Tan Sri Zainun Ali and five commissioners – Tan Sri Mahmood Adam, Tan Sri Aziah Ali, Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin, Datuk John Louis O’Hara and Prof Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmood.
They said the EAIC also found that Hamid had not taken appropriate action despite knowing about the cartel issue since 2020, as he had the time and power to address it before disclosing it to the media.
Hamid should have instructed the Bukit Aman Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (JIPS) to conduct a detailed investigation, they added.
“Instead, he did not give information to JIPS Bukit Aman so that the cartel issue can be investigated and resolved.
“Hamid also never raised the issue of this cartel in the Police Force Commission meeting,” they stressed.
In fact, the commissioners added, there were witnesses in the EAIC investigation who stated that Hamid’s last-minute assertion on the matter before his contract as IGP was to end in May last year raised questions on the motive and purpose of him making such a disclosure.
“Besides that, the EAIC wishes to stress that Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador refused to have further statements recorded to give clarification related to these issues,” they said. – The Vibes, February 28, 2022
