The Malaysian police is colour-blind in discharging its duties and do not target individuals based on race, religion or nationality.

This was Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar's response to an Indonesian news report regarding the fatal shooting of four suspected Indonesian criminals in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Indonesian daily Kompas today quoted the head of Badan Nasional Penempatan dan Perlindungan Tenaga Kerja Indonesia Moh Jumhur Hidayat as describing the Malaysian police as "cowards" who shoot to kill for the slightest of reasons.

Jumhur added that the suspected criminals could have been "disabled" (as in shot in the leg) instead of being "shot dead" especially since they were not terrorists.

However, Khalid said the question of whether the suspects indulged in terrorism or armed robberies does not arise.

"Even when confronting terrorists we do not have a shoot to kill policy, we only shoot when the suspects open fire at us.

"This is not a question of being a coward or being brave, it is a standard practice all over the world in the battle against crime," he told Malaysiakini.

'It could be any nationality'

When the lives of policemen are at risk, Khalid reiterated that issues like race, religion and nationality are not part of the crime fighting equation.

"In this case it was Indonesians, it could be anybody of any nationality, it would be the same situation.

"Our Standard Operating Procedure does not differentiate our actions by race, religion or nationality," he added.

The four Indonesians who were shot dead were said to be involved in a series of robberies targeting houses of VIPs.

Moh Jumhur's criticism comes hot on the heels of the controversial "shoot first" remark by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Opposition politicians and human rights groups have often accused the police of being trigger-happy.

Some even claim that based on statistics, the police appear to be more inclined to play the roles of judge, jury and executioner when it involves Malaysian Indian suspects.

Zahid has since denied calling for extrajudicial killings while Khalid has also dismissed the allegation that the police have a 'shoot to kill' policy or that their triggers are squeezed with increasing frequency when dealing with suspects of a certain race.