SHAH ALAM: Police are stepping up their crackdown against gangsterism at schools, with the force’s intelligence arm, the Special Branch, now roped in to bring down secret societies that recruit students.
At the state level, Selangor police has declared war on the triads, pledging that
they will not stop until all schools are cleared of gang influence.
Police are expecting to make more arrests soon, with investigators working to identify the network of gangs in schools and their leaders.
Selangor Criminal Investigation Department chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Fadzil Ahmat said police were mapping out the gang networks and were out to get those identified as gang members, including school students.
He said in the latest development, police arrested three more male teenagers at a school
in Klang on Thursday over
their suspected involvement with Geng 24.
“The students, aged between 16 and 17, were arrested at the school about 12.40pm following investigations on the secret society.
“They are being remanded until Sunday.
“More arrests will come soon, and rest assured, police will not stop until we see the end of this problem,” he said at the state police headquarters here yesterday.
Fadzil was speaking to reporters after attending a duty handover ceremony between outgoing Selangor police
Special Branch chief Assistant Commissioner
Adnan Abdullah
and his successor
Senior Assistant Commissioner Zulkifli Mohd.
Earlier, deputy Selangor police chief Datuk Fuad Abd Latiff, in his speech at the ceremony, called for intelligence resources to be pulled into the battle against gangsterism at schools, and said district police chiefs must be more proactive.
Federal police Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Mohmad Salleh told the New Straits Times his department was working with the Special Branch in gathering intelligence on secret societies’ activities.
This was echoed by Special Branch director Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, who said they were more than ready to assist and that the departments had always worked hand-in-hand to combat negative elements that threaten the nation’s peace and security.
The latest arrests increased the total number of suspects nabbed to 41, after 33 secondary school students and five adults were nabbed during the course of police investigations against Geng 24.
The probe began following two video recordings that went viral on social media on April 20, showing a group of men believed to be members of Geng 24, causing a commotion outside a school in Klang.