Asri Janggut Under Probe Over Claims That Police Soldiers Do Not Pray

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Bukit Aman has launched an investigation against the founder of a burger stall chain over his allegation that many Muslim police and military officers do not perform their daily prayers. Criminal Investigation Department (CID) deputy director (investigations/legal) Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said that police have opened an investigation paper on the matter after receiving reports against Mohd Asri Hamid, who is also known as Asri Janggut (above)
"The investigation was launched following police reports that were lodged at the Travers and Jalan Tun Razak police stations," he was quoted as saying by Harian Metro today
The Hot Burger franchise owner is being probed under Section 505(c) of the Penal Code for allegedly making statements conducing public mischief, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Commission Act for allegedly abusing telecommunication services."We will summon him (to give a statement) within this week," Mior added
Yesterday, a 31-second clip featuring Asri showed him making the allegation during a press conference, where he said that many police and soldiers were not fulfilling their compulsory religious obligations
For the record, Islam requires Muslims to pray five times a day
Asri's claim had since sparked a hot debate on social media, where he was widely criticised over his generalisation of law enforcement personnel
The remarks came only days after the businessperson's Facebook Live videos alleging that authorities were not acting against illegal gambling dens in Bandar Baru Sungai Buloh, went viral. In the widely shared videos, he had also claimed that one of his burger stalls in the area had allegedly been at the receiving end of law enforcement activities, while no action was taken against illegal businesses such as stalls selling contraband cigarettes.  Asri's latest claims received a response from Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador today, who described the remarks as outrageous and should not have been uttered in public
In the wake of the backlash, Asri issued an apology for the accusations he made
In a video clip published by the Malaysia Muslim Consumers Association, Asri claimed that he did not have the intention to hurt anyone and promised not to issue any further statements concerning the authorities again
"I, Mohd Asri Hamid, thus wholeheartedly and humbly apologise to the whole police force and armed forces for my mistake, ignorance and stupidity for making such a statement that the police are lazy in performing their prayers," he said. - Mkini

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