Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said the police were in the process of identifying the security forces personnel who might have been the culprit behind the leakage of information pertaining to the security forces operations in the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) areas.

“However, no arrests have been made so far involving members of the security forces personnel,” he told reporters after the handing over of duties and the conferment of ranks ceremony at Bukit Aman in Kuala Lumpur today.

In a related matter, a special operation was conducted in the area yesterday and more than 10 people comprising locals and immigrants from Southern Philippines were arrested.

The operation is still ongoing and those arrested will be investigated under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), he said.

“I do not deny that there is a possibility of security forces involvement in the incidents in the Esscom area,” he said.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had recently said that he believed the leakage of information relating to the operation of security forces in Sabah waters was done by ‘insiders’ and that it had made it difficult for the security forces to control th areas to the extent of causing kidnapping cases to be rampant, especially in the Esscom area.

Meanwhile, on documents submitted by the Joint Malay NGO chairperson Jamal Md Yunus on Tuesday which claimed that Bersih 5 had Islamic State (IS) elements, Khalid said the police were still going through the documents.

“If there is any conduct that violates the law, we will take action.

“DAP leader Lim Kit Siang questioned why the IGP does not come up with a statement in regard of this claim. Does he think I don’t have any other important things to attend to? Any questions regarding to any cases should be asked to the investigating officers. I do not have to make statements,” he said.

Khalid also reminded the red shirts (led by Jamal) and yellow shirts (Bersih supporters) to apply for permits under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 if they want to hold the rallies.

“Both sides will be violating the law if they didn’t apply for permit prior to the rally and will be investigated,” he said referring to scuffles often broke out in rallies involving both groups.

In another development, Khalid said that the police have decided to take action against any party that was found making frequent police reports for political reasons.

“We saw a trend here and we decided that if there is the deliberate use of police to benefit a political mileage, then they will be penalised under Section 182 of the Penal Code for making false police reports,” he said.

- Bernama