MUAR, Aug 9 — Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today questioned the motive of the claim by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that he was targeted by an unidentified sniper in Pekan, Pahang, in 2017.

He said it is strange that Najib is raising the matter now and did not do so in 2017 when he was the prime minister.

“What was he doing as the prime minister? What did the home minister, deputy prime minister and the police do then? If it was a malicious act, it is not a joke and they should have taken it seriously and ordered the authorities under their jurisdiction to investigate,” he said.

Muhyiddin spoke to the media after handing over cows for the Aidiladha sacrificial slaughter for his Pagoh parliamentary constituents in Taman Pagoh Jaya here. 

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“An immediate investigation should have been carried out to identify the culprit. Pakatan Harapan was not the ruling party then. We were the opposition,” he said.

Najib, who is the MP for Pekan, said at the forum ‘Hard Truth: Cash is King’ at the Umno headquarters recently that the sniper had fired a shot at his room as a warning when he was not in the Pekan Umno office. He posted on his official Facebook today that he was not lying about the incident.

Muhyiddin said his ministry does not regard the matter lightly and is prepared to conduct an investigation.

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On another matter, Muhyiddin, who is Bersatu president, said he does not dismiss the possibility that some party members deliberately circulated news that Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal is to resign.

“I regard such circulation of news as a malicious act. Why must he resign? He was just appointed and is discharging his duties well,” he said, adding that there is no truth to the news.

It has been reported that a post on the Ops Johor Facebook last Tuesday claimed that Dr Sahruddin will resign soon due to his failure to tackle the recent pollution in Pasir Gudang. — Bernama