Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar speaking to the press during the press conference. — Picture by K.E. Ooi

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 — Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said today that the missing guns highlighted in the just-released federal audit had not fallen into the wrong hands but could have “fallen into the sea”, as he deflected criticisms against the police force for lacking accountability.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), in a press conference this afternoon, pointed out that checks with the weapons’ identification codes have confirmed that they were not used for any criminal activity recently.

“Of the 37 missing guns, ballistic reports show that none of them have been used by criminals.

“The missing guns may not have fallen into the hands of criminals but it could have fallen into the sea from boats...and the weapons could not be recovered,” he was quoted as saying at the press conference by news portal Malaysiakini. In the federal audit, however, it was claimed that the police had lost 44 units of firearms, instead of 37.

According to the Auditor-General’s 2012 report released yesterday, the police had lost assets worth RM1.33 million in the past three years, including firearms, handcuffs and even vehicles.

The report said the police’s management of missing assets was unsatisfactory, noting the late discovery of missing assets, the delay in reporting losses to the department head and to the police, the department head’s delay in preparing an initial report on the missing assets, and the delay in action following a report on missing assets.

“In the auditor’s opinion, the management of PDRM’s missing assets is unsatisfactory because there are still many missing cases in 2010 and 2011 that have yet to be solved, as well as surcharges that have yet to be collected,” stated the Auditor-General’s 2012 report released today, referring to the police force with its Bahasa Malaysia initials.

“Besides that, records in Bukit Aman and state police contingent headquarters containing information on missing assets and the status of investigations need to be coordinated,” it added.

The report noted that between 2010 and 2012, the police lost 156 units of handcuffs, 44 units of firearms, 29 vehicles, 26 walkie-talkies, 22 radios, six cameras, four computers, one cellphone, and 21 unspecified items.

It added that out of 95 missing asset cases in 2012, only two cases were solved as the missing assets were found; while 17.8 per cent out of 45 cases in 2011 and 43.8 per cent out of 73 cases in 2010 were solved and written off.

It also noted that a surcharge of RM63,346 was slapped on errant officers in 30 missing asset cases from 2010 to 2012, but only RM6,879, or 11 per cent, was collected at the end of 2012.

According to Khalid today, however, a total of 92 cases of the missing items have been resolved to date, following an internal inquiry.

A further 118 are still under investigation, the IGP added, according to Malaysiakini.

The news portal also reported Khalid as saying that those responsible for the missing firearms were told to pay for them and a total of RM197,984 have been collected so far.

“(The police force) views this issue seriously. We concede that there are weaknesses which must be fixed and we are in the process of studying this,” he was quoted as saying.