Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia today trained its guns on Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar, questioning the top cop's seriousness in combating illegal gambling.

 

In an editorial column by Awang Selamat, the newspaper's official pen name, it praised Khalid's swift action against the Penang Voluntary Patrol Unit (PPS) but said the same commitment appears to be lacking on other fronts.

 

"It is curious why he is not tough and forward in the issue of illegal gambling machines.

 

"Some have asked, when was the last time Khalid participated in a surprise raid at any of the illegal gambling centres?

 

"Awang is unable to answer nor remember," it said in its Sunday edition Mingguan Malaysia .

 

The newspaper said Khalid must send a strong signal on the matter and mere rhetoric and warnings are insufficient.

 

The daily added it has previously proposed a key performance index (KPI) be imposed on mayors, district police chiefs and district council chiefs and they should be removed if they failed to meet these targets.

 

Likewise, it said, the same KPI should be imposed on Khalid.

 

"But whatever it is, Awang still supports Khalid to continue on with his responsibilities as inspector-general of police.

 

"Surely Khalid knows that the inspector-general of police must be clean and seen to be clean.

 

"Give him a chance to prove himself with effective action (against illegal gambling)," the newspaper held.