KUALA LUMPUR: The responsibility of the police is to protect and rescue law-abiding citizens, and not to protect criminals who kill to escape arrest, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan.

Denying allegations that police were trigger-happy, he said: “The suspects should have surrendered if they did not want to die. If they (criminals) shoot at us, obviously it becomes a matter of life and death and police would have to react accordingly.

“What kind of warning can we give, when the criminals start shooting at us?” Musa said after attending the Police Deepavali celebrations at the Kuala Lumpur police training college yesterday.

Musa was referring to the shooting of five robbers in Klang on Nov 8.

Police have been accused of using indiscriminate force that resulted in the death of the suspects.

It was reported that Federal CID director Comm Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin said that in all cases, police were fired upon first, resulting in officers returning fire.

“People can criticise us (police) but if they are in that situation (shoot-out), what would they do?,” he said.