This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 23, 2019 - December 29, 2019

On more than one occasion, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador has said he will bring back business fugitive and alleged mastermind of the 1MDB scandal, Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, by year-end.

In late September, he said, “It is difficult for me to give a timeline [to bring back Low] because he has run away for a long time but I am making an effort to expedite things, perhaps by the end of the year.”

A few weeks later, in October, he announced at a press conference after the 72th Marine Police Day celebration at the marine police base in Batu Uban, Penang, that he had set a year-end target to get Low.

With a week or so to the end of the year, will Abdul Hamid be able to achieve his self-imposed target?

If he does not fulfil his promise, it will not be surprising.

In September, the IGP had told the press that the police knew where Low was. He also said he believed that Low “had the protection of someone” who provided him with a safe haven in a certain country, and went on to add that the country had signed an extradition treaty with Malaysia.

“Our investigations found that he is free to move around and able to run his businesses without any restrictions,” Abdul Hamid said.

So, why was the IGP giving Low — who is also sought by the US and Singapore authorities — so much information? Was it the norm to inform the public that the police knew his whereabouts and that he was being shielded? Wasn’t that akin to telling Low to be on his guard?

That was indeed one of the times when silence was golden.

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