KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak made a startling claim today, saying that he was targeted by an unidentified sniper before the 14th general election.

Speaking at the ‘Hard Truth: Cash is King’ forum here at Umno’s headquarters, Najib said that the sniper had fired a shot at his room, while he was not present in the Pekan Umno office, seemingly as a warning sign.

"I never told this before.

"One day, about a year before the general election, there was a sniper who shot a bullet directed at my room, when I was the Pekan division head. At that time the sniper knew I wasn’t home, but the person wanted to send a message,” he said.

The Pekan MP alleged that the sniper's shot struck the side of a mirror in his room.

"There is a sign that the shot was fired from a distance of 200 metres, targeting my room, as the Pekan division chief," he added.

Najib said that this was why there was always increased security around him at all times, claiming that the sniper had used a ‘long-range, high powered sniper rifle’.

He was speaking to a packed audience at Umno’s auditorium here, attended mostly by party members and leaders.