KLANG, Feb 4 — Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain today rejected attempts to liken the Selangor royal town of Klang to Colombia in South America, which is notorious for its crime.

Denouncing the comparisons made by several news sites, he said Klang does not even have the highest crime rate in the Klang Valley compared to other cities and districts.

"The perception was created by several portals starting from the previous case of a real estate agent being robbed.

"Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department Director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily discussed this with me and saw that Klang was written as Colombia City in portals. He said it was actually based on what was cited in several portals,” Razaruddin said after a walkabout around Jalan Pandamaran here this morning.

He said the Royal Malaysia Police is committed to correcting the public misperception of Klang as a crime haven, citing that several operations against drugs, migrant smuggling and criminal activities have been carried out between January 15 and February 1 this year to weed out the crooks.

"We want to clean this city up so that this stigma and perception disappears, that this is not the Colombian city, this is Klang City, the royal city... put that in our minds,” Razarudin said.

He added that in terms of crime rates this year, Gombak is the highest, followed by Petaling Jaya and southern Klang.

"Last year, Gombak district was highest followed by Kajang, Petaling Jaya, and southern Klang; only northern Klang fell below,” he said.

Mohd Shuhaily was reported by several online news sites as saying on January 30 during a townhall session in Klang that the Malaysian city had been compared to Colombia due to its increasing crime rate this year, and expressing his disappointment as crime was on the rise everywhere.