JB still the relatively safe for massages. Selangor is the most dangerous.
KUALA LUMPUR — A total of 74 people across Malaysia were shot and killed by criminals between January and September, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said yesterday.
This is almost double the 39 murder cases involving firearms for the whole of last year that were reported by the media.
The cases of fatal shootings were recorded in all states except Perlis, with Selangor, the country’s richest state, topping the list with 15 murders, Dr Ahmad Zahid told Parliament yesterday.
Perak had the second-highest record with 10 fatal shootings, followed by Penang, which recorded nine killings.
“Most of the firearms used for crime are believed to have been smuggled in from neighbouring countries,” he said in his written reply to an opposition lawmaker on the breakdown of shooting cases this year and the preventive measures taken.
Malaysia has been hit by a series of violent crimes, including a wave of high-profile shootings, in recent months.
The police have blamed the surge on turf wars among gangs, following the release of detainees — many of them hardened gangsters — under the now-repealed Emergency Ordinance, which allowed for indefinite detention.
Mr Ahmad Zahid added that smuggling activities across the border remain relatively rampant due to high traffic at entry points and economic interaction between border communities that create opportunities for smugglers.
The situation is worsened by the porous border crossings that are also used by locals to smuggle in all sorts of items, including firearms.
Familial ties and geographical factors, such as at the Malaysia-Thailand border which is separated only by Sungai Golok, have also encouraged smuggling activities, he said.
To counter such crime, the police and other enforcement agencies, such as the Customs Department, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the Anti-Smuggling Unit, conduct random raids and enforcement, added the minister.
The police have also launched two special operations — one focused on firearms smuggling at border crossings and another dealing with criminal cases involving the use of firearms on home soil.
Meanwhile, Deputy Home Minister Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told Parliament that the amendments to the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, which replaced the Internal Security Act (ISA), are to enable tougher action to be taken against criminals.
While the amendments are seen as part of the government’s efforts to give law-enforcement agencies more ammunition in dealing with violent crimes, critics have claimed they are tantamount to bringing back the ISA, which also allowed for detention without trial.
Opposition politicians had, in the past, accused the government of using the ISA to silence its critics.
In tabling the Security Offences (Special Measures) 2013 Bill yesterday, Dr Wan Junaidi said that the amendments took into consideration socio-economic and political aspects, including the element of political influence in protecting criminal activities.
“Organised crime and human-smuggling syndicates have reached a level which could threaten national security, with negative effects on the social, economic and political aspects which are pillars of a country’s stability.
“From the political angle, there may be organised criminal groups which influence politicians and senior government officials to protect their activities,” he said.
Should such developments be allowed to take place, the institution of government would lose its credibility and result in great losses for the country, Dr Wan Junaidi added.
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