Remember the viral photo of a police officer’s family visiting him while he was manning a roadblock at Putrajaya on Hari Raya Aidilfitri (13 May 2021)? Well, after the Putrajaya IPD Chief ACP Mohd Fadzil Ali commented yesterday that the incident didn’t breach the SOPs of MCO 3.0, he backtracked on his words today and said that there was in fact a breach of SOPs and that the wife of the police officer has been compounded RM2,000.
As reported by Harian Metro, after further investigations, while there were no breach of SOPs in certain aspects of the visit, there was one particular violation of MCO 3.0 SOPs that occurred.
The Putrajaya IPD chief further elaborated that the wife’s visit of her husband at the roadblock was a violation of Regulation number 21 (PU a 225/20212) Hari Raya Aidilfitri visits (No. 21 other offences under the SOP prescribed the National Security Council) of the Emergency (Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases)(Amendment) Ordinance 2021. Hence the very act of the wife to visit her husband at the roadblock was seen as a violation of MCO SOPs.
Mohd Fadzil commented,
“At first, the wife’s action was seen as a spouse’s responsibility to provide moral support for her on-duty husband by bringing him delicacies during the morning of Hari Raya,”
Putrajaya ipd police chief, acp mohd fadzil ali.
“However, public interest far outweighs any individual interest and we, the police refused to make such actions as an excuse by the officer’s family members to visit whilst he is on duty on Hari Raya or on any other day,”
Meanwhile, as for allegations by the public that the family broke MCO 3.0 SOPs by being in a car with more than 3 people to get to the roadblock, it is simply not true. This is because the family went there with two separate vehicles.
The Putrajaya IPD chieft then reiterated that the police will not compromise on any breach of MCO 3.0 SOPs and will take action on anyone, regardless whether they are members of the general public or PDRM officers.
What do you guys think of this ‘u-turn’ by the Putrajaya IPD police chief? Was it warranted? Should the family be compounded in the first place? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Also read: PDRM: No SOPs Breached When Viral Family Visited Officer Manning Roadblock For Hari Raya
