Inland fishermen threatened by gangsters urged to make police report

Inland fishermen who have received threats from gangster groups claiming to be guarding disused mining pools in Perak are urged to lodge a police report.

State police chief, Datuk Razarudin Husain said his department had not received any report on the threats as reported in a local newspaper today.

"However, I will ask the Criminal Investigation Department to investigate this matter after obtaining more information.

"We urge anyone who has become a victim to come forward and make a report," he said when contacted by Bernama, here, today.

He was asked to comment on the newspaper report claiming that dozens of disused mining pools in Perak had been illegally encroached upon for agricultural and livestock breeding purposes, thus threatening the source of income of freshwater fishermen whose livelihood depended on fishing in these areas .

The illegal operators have reportedly hired gangsters to guard the disused mining pools including in the districts of Kampar, Batang Padang and Perak Tengah, to prevent the public from entering the areas.

Apart from that, there were fishermen in the Perak Tengah district who claimed to have been drawn into fights, slapped and their fishing equipment and boats damaged by a group of unidentified individuals who claimed to be caretakers of the areas.

The local press report also mentioned that encroachment upon the disused mine pool areas is not a new issue as it had been raised by fishermen in the Kampar area at a dialogue session with Tualang Sekah assemblyman, Datuk Nolee Ashilin Mohamed Radzi in 2014.

Razarudin said police would investigate and take action according to the provisions of the law if the allegations of threats to the fishermen's safety were found to be true.

-- BERNAMA