State Deputy Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Malik Harun on Monday said the police information leak, which went viral on WhatsApp and Facebook, has stirred perceptions linking the planned attack and an illegal immigrant swoop held in Sandakan on Saturday.
The source of the purported report came from police intelligence over a village chief in Sandakan who claimed that some 36 armed men led by Misuari's son had landed in Sandakan by boat on Dec. 25.
In was in the process of disseminating the report to the nearby police stations, it was released to civilians and went viral a day before the integrated operation led by the Eastern Sabah Security Command was held on Dec 27.
"It's an offence and disciplinary action can be taken against the personnel who leaked such the information the same against any civilian who had done it," said Abdul Malek, certain it was done by someone in the force.
He also noted that prior to the illegal immigrant operation, Esscom had also organised an anti-intrusion exercise called Ops Pasak 1 from Dec. 24 to 26.
Abdul Malek said these incidents were unrelated, adding that also not of a grave concern as such exercise and operations like the one conducted by Esscom, and the disseminating of information by police were standard procedures.
This included beefing up the security of police stations in the event of an impending attack. Nonetheless, he said investigations on the armed men landed in Sandakan were also found to be false including the existence of the so-called village chief. "When my men went to the place to look for the village chief, we found that no such man existed and the name of the real village chief was different," he said.
A statement issued by Esscom Commander Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun also denied any armed men landed in Sandakan, nor shooting incidents.
"I urge the public to remain calm as the situation is safe in Eastern Security Sabah Zone especially in Sandakan and Semporna," he said.
On Saturday, Esscom launched a massive illegal immigrant swoop in Sandakan involving various other agencies which saw 315 men being hauled up and after thorough investigation 120 were held back under immigration offences, while two others were remanded for drug offences.
According to Abdul Malek although that was a real opearation, the public should not be alarmed and felt threatened.
He advised those who received such information in the future to contact the authorities for verification and stop spreading them through social media or WhatsApp.
A 24-hour hotline is also available for the public to receive and provide such information to Esscom at 089-863181 alternately, fax to 089 – 863 181.
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