Ops Cantas: Home Ministry’s list of gang leaders confuses cops

KUALA LUMPUR - Police said yesterday they were “confused” by a list containing the identities of 30 gang leaders released by the Home Ministry last week.

The list, which was made public, has sparked criticism, with some observers claiming it contained numerous errors.

Federal Police secret societies, gaming and anti-vice (D7) principal assistant director Datuk Abdul Jalil Hassan said Bukit Aman was unaware of the source of the information obtained by the ministry.

“As far as we are concerned, we are conducting our investigations,” he said.

Abdul Jalil also refuted criticism that only Indian gangsters were targeted in the listed. He said that since Ops Cantas was launched, more than 50 per cent of those arrested were Malay gang members, including members of Gang 77 and Tiga Line.

“I don’t know who is the source of the Home Ministry but the input did not come from the police. We have our own list and some gangs listed by the ministry were already under our watch,” he said.

He said that since August 17 police had arrested 2,333 Malays, 1,699 Indian and 683 Chinese gang members.

Abdul Jalil said police had yet to receive any instruction from the ministry on the list that went public.

“We have yet to hear from the ministry. However we take their source seriously and will look into it,” he said.

On Saturday, Bernama reported the identity of 30 leaders belonging to Gangs 04, 08 ,36 and their areas of control.

Quoting a Home Ministry source in revealing the list, it said the gangs were still actively operating in their turf.

Ops Cantas is a special  operation launched following a spate of shootings in the country, believed to be related to turf wars among gangs and linked to illegal activities such as drug trafficking and extortion.

Among those shot dead were either gang members or leaders, the recent of which was an ex-air force personnel who, police said, was also the head of Geng 36 in Batu Gajah, Perak.