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KOTA KINABALU: Police received intelligence information that certain elements from a neighboring country are planning to enter Sabah in large numbers to create trouble during Saturday’s elections, Sabah Police Commissioner Hazani Ghazali said.
“Along with the Sabah state elections, we have received information that immigrants from a neighboring country will come to Sabah in large numbers to create unrest.
“We have to thwart this so that the elections run smoothly and public order and security can be maintained,” he told a press conference today at the Sabah police headquarters.
When questioned by journalists, he refused to reveal the source of the information, the number of possible rioters and the type of disturbance they planned.
“(They are) from a neighboring country; there is no need to be specific, ”she said.
“A total of 96 checkpoints at the land and sea borders have been placed on alert and are actively patrolling to detect ‘lorong tikus’ (illegal trails) along the borders.
“We are also concerned that they may bring Covid-19 as the virus has spread rapidly, especially in the east coast areas of Lahad Datu, Tawau, Kunak and Semporna,” Hazani added.
Despite the increase in cases, early voting would proceed as planned Tuesday with standard procedures in place.
Chief Health Officer Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 52 new infections were reported today, 36 of them in Sabah. There was one positive case in Sandakan, three positive cases in the Bakau group in Semporna, 399 cases in Tawau, and 551 cases in the Benteng Lahad Datu group.
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