Task force to probe info leak on tahfiz fire case

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Aman has ordered city police to set up a special task force to probe the information leak on the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz fire tragedy.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said that he had told city police chief Comm Datuk Amar Singh Ishar Singh to set up the task force after an investigation was started on Saturday following the leak.

"This is a serious matter and it is not the first time something like this has happened.

"We are probing this internally and as a criminal case," he told a press conference at Bukit Aman here Monday.

Police have already recorded statements from 13 of its personnel over the leak.

However, Mohamad Fuzi warned that more would be brought in for questioning, including individuals outside the force who may have been involved.

He also said that the investigation was being carried out under Section 203A of the Penal Code for disclosure of information and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

The formation of the task force comes after details of the case and photographs of the teenage suspects in the fire tragedy made their rounds on social media.

Mohamad Fuzi was speaking after attending a ceremony at Bukit Aman to honour the police athletes who competed and won medals at the recent SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, as well as the World Police and Fire Games in Los Angeles, California.

The group managed to win 17 medals in the SEA Games, 12 of them gold, as well as 72 medals in the United States: 34 gold, 19 silver and 19 bronze medals in all.