Anyone spreading fake news on the shooting incident in Batu Arang, Selangor or the amok case in Penang will be arrested immediately, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador said today.
He said such fake news could lead to racial tension in the country.
He said the amok case in Bayan Lepas on Monday, which ended with the man shot dead by police, was an isolated one and did not involve any extremist groups or individuals.
On claims of the presence of a woman during the Batu Arang case on Saturday in which police shot three men dead, Hamid said a viral video related to the incident was an irresponsible act.
“Police are monitoring this matter seriously and will not hesitate to take action…do not be influenced by this.
“Don’t make your own decisions to add comments…those sharing articles like this and adding comments will be arrested, no more warnings,” he told a press conference at the Bukit Aman police headquarters.
On the amok case, Hamid said several quarters had spread posts saying that the parang-wielding perpetrator, who was shot dead by police after killing his supervisor, died as a martyr.
The posts claimed that the man had reacted so after the victim insulted Prophet Muhammad.
“Don’t make such assumptions that will trigger unrest in society to create a perspective that a segment of society is oppressed by the other segment,” Abdul Hamid he said.
He said based on police investigation, they found that the suspect was heavily influenced by clips from the middle east purportedly showing the plight of Muslims in the region.
“If people watch these clips but lack the understanding, it will evoke anger. The suspect was influenced by clips on social media which have nothing to do with our country,” he added.
He said police have identified those unscrupulous individuals and will haul them for investigations.
On Monday, police shot dead the 25-year factory worker who ran amok, causing the death of a 47-year old female supervisor and injured a 53-year old security manager.
Penang police said the suspect is believed to have been suffering from depression for several months and had been absent from work for a week.
Penang Southwest district police chief AA Anbalagan said police who arrived at the scene told the man to surrender but instead he attacked them with a parang, prompting the officers to shoot in self-defence.