PETALING JAYA, March 19 — Police have picked up three suspects in connection with a Molotov cocktail attack on an assistant district officer’s house in Bandar Baru Bangi on Thursday.

A police source revealed the suspects, in their 30s, were picked up from Semenyih yesterday.

Earlier, Hulu Langat District Officer Zulkifli Khalid said sand thieves could be responsible for the attack.

However, he would not single them out as the only suspects since his officers often faced hostile reactions from wrongdoers when carrying out their duties.

“It is difficult for me say who exactly is the culprit,” he said when asked about a Bernama report yesterday which quoted him as saying that sand thieves were responsible.

Zulkifli said his officers were constant victims of insults from disgruntled offenders, especially when the officers served notices and enforced warnings. 

“The officers are not easily intimidated, but there should be mutual respect as they are only fulfilling their duties,” he said.

“If we are faced with trouble every time we enforce the law, how can anything get accomplished?”

He said Thursday’s attack was the worst he had come across in the two years since he became the district officer.

“I hope the authorities will take this matter seriously and track down those responsible,” he said.

Zulkifli said lodging a police report was the only option officers had every time they were threatened.

“We understand the situation with the enforcement officers, but all that can be done is to advise them to be careful when carrying out their responsibilities. We cannot predict the reaction of the offenders,” he said.

Three Molotov cocktails and a plastic bag containing live bullets were hurled into the porch of the assistant district officer’s home in Section 14, Bandar Baru Bangi.

The officer, who oversees the enforcement of illegal dumpsites, sand mining and wrongful use of land, noticed broken glass and burn marks from the Molotov cocktails, and the plastic bag with the bullets, as he was about to leave for work at about 6.30am.