Cases of alleged hostility or aggression during the Umno polls should be referred to the party disciplinary board and not the police, said Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today.

He said party members should not tarnish Umno's image by going public with the allegations, which have surfaced in the ongoing branch-level elections.

Najib, who is also Umno deputy president, was commenting on the move by Kelantan Umno deputy liaison chief Zaid Ibrahim to lodge a police report over incidents of threats by thugs alleged to have occurred in several divisions.

"We would like to see the report first...an allegation is one thing. If we were to make allegations publicly and without any substantiation, it could tarnish our party's image.

"As such, we need to conduct checks before making any assumption especially when it affects Umno's image," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Najib said party members were disallowed from making police reports under the Umno constitution.

He said Umno members must refer to the party any problems which were related to the party and the Umno Disciplinary Board would conduct investigations and take the appropriate action.

"If indeed there are criminals in Umno, allow Umno to make its decision to refer the matter to the police and take any other actions," he said.

The election for the party's top posts will commence in September during its annual general meeting.

Snatch theft

In another matter, Najib, when asked to comment on the rampant cases of snatch theft, said besides the need to increase the number of police personnel and beef up law enforcement in public places, the public themselves must be more cautious.

"Most criminal offences are committed at the spur of the moment, without any prior intention, that is when the offenders seize an opportunity which presents itself to commit the offence.

"If we are careful and take the necessary precaution, we can avoid most of the risk of being a victim of such crimes," he said.

Najib said that measures to curb snatch thefts must be two-pronged - care and caution by the public and enforcement by the police and other relevant authorities.