Former IGP tells of how the Special Branch was asked to carry out certain orders and how the Home Minister wanted “his boy” to head the Special Branch to serve his political purposes.
- SB snubbed Hamzah, reluctant to take orders from him
- Hamzah had directed SB to conduct operations for his own purposes
- Hamzah angered after PM agreed SB should not be used for political purposes
- Arrangements made to give Hamzah’s “boy” the post of SB director
- Current SB chief asked to voluntarily end his contract, but PM instructed he be retained
The refusal of Bukit Aman’s Special Branch to carry out certain orders led to threats to end the contract of its head, says Tan Sri Hamid Abdul Bador.
The former inspector-general of police claimed that he turned down the request and his action was not favoured by certain people, causing further requests for transfers of personnel.
He added that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was informed of the discontent of the Special Branch.
“The police force was lucky as the Prime Minister understood our situation and ordered the Special Branch to ignore the request and continue with our work”, said Hamid to Sinar Harian.
He said that the pressure and work orders faced by the Special Branch began about a year ago.
Hamid also said that what the Special Branch went through was not an isolated case.
“It also involved other police departments, not only me”, said Hamid.
He also claimed that Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin wished to make “his boy” the Special Branch head to serve his political purposes.
Hamid told the Malaysia Gazette that Hamzah allegedly wanted “his boy” to head Special Branch, as the police unit had been reluctant to take orders from him and had snubbed him.
Hamzah’s plans were revealed last week after he admitted his was one of the two voices in a leaked audio recording discussing the appointment of police officers to key positions in the force.
Hamid, who was the deputy Special Branch chief during the Barisan Nasional administration, said he was informed that the home minister had allegedly directed the Special Branch to conduct a number of operations for his own purposes.
“I cannot reveal the operations as every Special Branch operation is secret, but the objective of the operations does not suit the Special Branch’s national security mandate”, Hamid was quoted as saying.
Reports said Hamzah was allegedly angered after Muhyiddin agreed that the division should not be used for political purposes, and chose to work with senior Special Branch officials, whose contracts expired last year.
The minister is said to have arranged measures to give “his boy” (a former senior Special Branch officer) the post of Bukit Aman Special Branch director because the individual easily followed the minister’s instructions, Hamid alleged.
“As evident, on Feb 16, the current Special Branch chief was summoned by the chief secretary to the government who asked him to voluntarily end his contract.
“Otherwise, a one-month notice of termination will be issued. The minister appeared impatient for ‘his boy’ to fill the position even though the Special Branch chief’s contract will end in mid-June,” Hamid was quoted as saying.
Hamid said the matter was again brought to the prime minister who then instructed for the Special Branch chief to be retained.
Mohamed Farid Abu Hassan is currently the Special Branch chief. He was appointed in June 2019.
Hamid retired as the inspector-general of police yesterday and has vowed to champion the police force “in his own way”. He has been succeeded by Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani.