Police crippled a burglary and car theft syndicate with the arrest of four local men, including its mastermind, in several raids around the Klang Valley between Nov 28 and Dec 2.
Police believe at least 20 cases of house break-ins and car hijackings in the vicinity of Bangsar and Travers have been solved with these arrests, said Brickfields police chief ACP Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid.
“We believe this syndicate was involved in the burglary of a Bukit Aman Inspector’s house on June 10 where they made off with a television, jewelry and a Toyota Altis,” he said.
“As a result of our investigation and surveillance, we arrested a local man aged 36 in Kampung Baru, Semenyih about 8.30 pm on Nov 28 and found the stolen Toyota Altis,” he added.
He was speaking to reporters yesterday after handing over a cheque to the widow of the late Sgt Md Noor Shukor, a policeman who died in a hit and run accident along Jalan Syed Putra on Nov 22.
Wan Abdul Bari said interrogation of the suspect led them to the second suspect aged 29 who was detained at Old Klang Road.
The following day about 3 am police detained a 21-year-old man at a petrol station in Taman Sri Sentosa, believed to be the gang’s mastermind, he added.
In a raid of the 21-year-old suspect’s house in Bangsar, police discovered several tools related to breaking in such as spanners, allen keys, computers mobile phones and other stolen items, he explained.
“Police found a bunch of keys, car tyres and a Perodua Myvi which was reported stolen,” he said.
He further informed that in another raid on Dec 2 they managed to pick up the last suspect aged 48 who worked in a goldsmith shop in Jalan Tun Sambathan and seized a nugget of melted gold.
“The third suspect who appears to be the gang’s mastermind is believed to have been active in house burglaries and car thefts in Jalan Bangsar and Jalan Travers since May, with two accomplices who are still at large,” said Wan Abdul Bari.
“The other three suspects are the middlemen who sell off the stolen goods and police are still tracking the two main accomplices,” he added.
He said only the first suspect had previous criminal records and all of them tested negative for drugs.
The estimated value of the stolen items was RM200,000 and the case was being investigated under the Penal Code, he said.
Meanwhile, on a separate case Wan Abdul Bari announced that 146,272 pirated video games DVDs estimated at RM500,000 were seized from a building in Old Klang Road on Dec 5.
In the 11 am raid police detained a local man, and three Myanmar men and a woman who were busy packing the DVDs for distribution, he said.
“The operation was a result of joint investigations and surveillance by Brickfields and Bukit Aman police who detained all the suspects between 25 and 29 years old,” he explained.
Earlier, Wan Abdul Bari and Public Service Department (PSD) Post Services Division operations director Ghazali Hizam had handed the cheque to Md Noor’s widow, Noriyati Yaakob, 54.
“I’m grateful for the assistance, PSD has speeded up the pension and it’s a big help to the family,” said the mother of three children aged between 27 and 32. Md Noor, 57, who was attached to the Brickfields police headquarters, died on the spot from severe head injuries after the motorcycle he was riding on was rammed into by a vehicle at Jalan Syed Putra near Midvalley, which then sped off.
– Bernama
CJMY
Jimmy Tan
