KANGAR: The cold-blooded murder of Bukit Aman Sub-Inspector Abu Hashim Ismail in Kedah on Friday is not the first in the state where law enforcement officers were specifically targeted.
Over the years, men and women attached to various enforcement agencies at Malaysian-Thai border areas in Kedah and Perlis were the targets of smuggling syndicates run by organised crime gangs.
Some of these gangs are ruthless and would not hesitate to intimidate anyone standing in their way, even to the extent of harming them.
Apart from having their property and vehicles damaged, some of the officers also nearly lost their lives.
In 2010, a gunman fired random shots at the house of a senior officer who was attached to Bukit Kayu Hitam Customs Department. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.
In October 2014, the same Customs Department senior officer once again received a grave threat when his car was set ablaze in a 5am arson attack at his home in Taman Bukit Indah, Jitra.
Police had confirmed that the arson attack was an attempt to intimidate the victim and prevent him from carrying out his duty.
It was reported that initial investigations suggested the incident could had been linked to individuals unhappy with the officer's duties at the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia import division in Bukit Kayu Hitam.
On Oct 9, 2015, a Padang Besar Customs enforcement officer was put into a coma and two of his colleagues also injured, albeit less so, when the multi-purpose vehicle they were in was rammed from behind by a Proton Perdana driven by a tonto (look-out thug).
The tonto rammed into the vehicle when the officers were pursuing a Thai-registered pick-up truck laden with smuggled liquor. Their vehicle was rammed twice from behind and once again from the side.
The MPV then went out of control and crashed into a bus stop by the roadside at Km20, Jalan Padang Besar-Kangar, in the 4.15am incident.
Mat Zohir Mohd Saad, 47, and Mohd Safawi Rosdi, 27, were thrown out of the vehicle. Safawi suffered serious injuries and was in a coma for a while following the incident while Zohir sustained serious head injuries.
Abdullah Ayob, 46, who was behind the wheel of the MPV, escaped the crash with minor injuries to his back, chest and cheek.
In Friday’s incident, a lone gunman fired six shots at close range from outside the gates of a house in Taman Hosba, Changlun, when Abu Hashim was talking to a man who was placed under house detention under the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca).
Four of the bullets hit the victim, who was counting the days to his retirement, killing him on the spot in the 10.25pm incident.