Inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar has taken offence to a Sin Chew Daily report about police's swift action in a snatch theft case involving one of its own personnel as the victim.

The Chinese daily had shared the story on Facebook with the Mandarin caption: 'Another snatch theft case, but this one was solved quickly'.

Khalid saw this as an insinuation that police were only swift in cases that involved one of their own, and warned the newspaper against inciting the public.

"There is no bias in police handling of snatch theft crimes. To this newspaper: don't try to incite its readers," he wrote on Twitter accompanied by a screenshot of Sin Chew Daily 's Facebook posting.

In a separate Facebook posting today, Sin Chew Daily said it had no intention to suggest that police were biased in handling such cases.

"The ( Facebook ) status was not meant to question whether police were biased in its investigation.

"It was to show the positive attitude of the police in handling the case and highlight its efficiency.

"This was proven when police solved many important cases in a short period of time recently," it said.

The newspaper also apologised if the posting expressed prejudice against the police.