KUALA LUMPUR - THE battered image of the Malaysian police was further tarnished during the trial of the murdered Mongolian beauty, as witnesses revealed harsh police treatment and loopholes for its personnel to smuggle out bombs from police arms stores.

An opposition leader said the revelations over the past two weeks have shown the government's 'great reluctance' to reform the police despite earlier pledges to do so.

'It is as if the government is fearful of doing anything that could upset the police,' Parti Keadilan Rakyat's information chief Tian Chua told The Straits Times.

On Tuesday, a policewoman, who was initially a suspect in the murder case, told the court about how she was 'tortured' by fellow police officers after her arrest in November last year.

Then, on Wednesday, Assistant Commissioner Mastor Mohd Ariff told the court his Special Action Force personnel could smuggle out weapons such as guns and bombs from the police warehouse because no proper records were kept.

These disclosures were a blow to the police, who are already beset with accusations of graft and abuse of powers.

The police have been trying hard to improve their image since then.

A reader wrote to web news portal Malaysiakini about the trial: 'Malaysians are fast losing any hope of salvaging its public institutions and the sense of what's right.'

Prosecution witness Lance Corporal Rohaniza Roslan, 29, had alleged that while in detention, she was scolded as well as sworn at by the police, to get her to say what they wanted to hear.

What raised many eyebrows was that she is a serving officer who is pointing fingers at her fellow officers.

Wearing her uniform in court, she testified that interrogators had fabricated evidence by recording statements she did not make.

She also claimed, under oath, that they had threatened to bring murder charges against her if she did not cooperate.

ACP Mastor, also a prosecution witness, shocked many when he said officers of the elite Special Action Force could smuggle out weapons used during training due to weak controls. During practice sessions, there was no proper record of explosives used and this allowed the policemen to claim that the bombs had been used even if they had not, he said.

Yesterday, Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharom said the government would tighten the procedures to ensure that bombs were not taken out.

'From now on, all use (of weapons during practice) must be recorded. This applies to officers of all ranking,' he was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.

After assuming office in 2003, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi had pledged to reform the police force.

He even established a committee to look into the matter, and promised to set up an independent body for the public to file their complaints.

This body is still nowhere in sight, due to strong resistance from the police rank-and-file.

kumhor@sph.com.sg