Police chief denies 'friends shot Sanjeevan' report

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar has denied a news report quoting him as saying that whistleblower R Sri Sanjeevan was shot by his "friends" and not hired killers.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, the police chief said he had only mentioned that investigations were still ongoing.

"I told reporters during a press conference yesterday to give us time to complete our probe into the matter. That was all.

"I have instructed our public relations department to seek an explanation from the news portal," he added.

Khalid was responding to a report in Free Malaysia Today which stated that the police chief ruled out the involvement of hired killers.

The report quoted Khalid as saying that the MyWatch chief's friends were behind the shooting.

FMT: We did not manufacture report

Meanwhile, FMT editor-in-chief K Kabilan said that the report was based on a question posed to the IGP after his press conference.

"We reported what he told our journalist. There is no reason for us to manufacture anything here.

"After the press conference, our journalist had approached Khalid, saying that he wanted to ask one final question. Our journalist had asked if hired killers were involved in the Sanjeevan shooting to which the IGP responded by saying what was reported.

"We just reported what Khalid told our journalist," said Kabilan in a FMT report, adding that the IGP was entitled to deny his statement.

FMT also quoted police public relations officer ACP Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf urging the news portal to rectify the report, claiming that it could be exploited to portray a negative impression on the conduct of police investigations.

"The title of this report is not only inaccurate but it could also mislead readers into believing that the IGP had indeed said that the police knew for certain that the shooters were friends of Sanjeevan.

"This in turn, might be misconstrued by interested parties who could exploit the report to portray a negative impression on the conduct of police investigations,” he had said in a letter to the news portal.

Ramli had also said that he was present at the press conference, with 15 other reporters, and vouched for Khalid, saying the IGP never accused Sanjeevan’s friends of being involved in the shooting.

"Several journalists asked me if the FMT report reflected what the IGP said because they had not heard such a statement made by him. Simply put, it’s not the truth," said Ramli.

Sanjeevan (right) was shot last week in Bahau after two men on a motorcycle pulled alongside his car.

Since he had exposed alleged corruption in the police and tweeted about having received threats in relation to this, speculation was rife that rogue police officers could be involved in the shooting.

MyWatch patron and former IGP Musa Hasan had also linked the police to the incident.

Sanjeevan, who was hit by a single bullet in the ribcage, is currently undergoing treatment at Serdang Hospital in Selangor.