GEORGE TOWN, April 10 ― Penang police are hunting down 26 individuals believed to be “Indian thug gang” members who had committed violent crimes in the state including the shootings in the state since late 2013.

Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said these are members from thug gangs known as “04”, “08” and “36” with numerous criminal records believed to be involved in many violent crimes in the state between 2013 until now.

“We need to trace these people who are all locals between the age of 22 and 36 years old,” he told a press conference at the Penang police headquarters here.

Abdul Rahim said they are also believed to be involved in various assault cases and robberies in the state.

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“These are not gangsters because they are not organised like the secret societies so they are termed as ‘thug gangs’,” he said.

There have been violent attacks, believed to be gang fights, in the state in recent months which include a man being shot dead in Scotland Road last month and a man slashed by a group of men at a baby full moon party on March 31.

According to ASP S. Mogan who leads theI ndian thug gang task force, the thug gangs move in small groups.

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“They are not organised like the triads as they do not have a hierarchy or initiation for new members so it is hard to estimate the total number of members in these gangs in the state,” he said.

The thug gangs are made up of separate smaller groups of four to 10 people per group, he added.

For now, they police have only identified the 26 to assist in investigations into the thug gang activities.

“We are appealing to the public to contact us if they have any information of any of these thug gang members,” Abdul Rahim said.