BUKIT MERTAJAM, Oct 1 — Traders in Taman Chai Leng, Prai, are still shaken following a goldsmith shop robbery on Tuesday, describing it like a scene from a movie. They also fear a similar episode can happen again.

In the 11.30am robbery at Medan Kurau 1, which took two minutes, three men smashed a glass showcase with sledgehammers and scooped RM600,000 worth of jewellery, while another, brandishing two guns, stood guard outside. The gunman even fired a shot in the air before the robbers escaped on two motorcycles.

“I saw the gunman dancing. He pointed a gun at me as I was only about 3m from him,” said Ng Hee Keong, 44.

Ng’s father runs a dental clinic next to the goldsmith’s shop.

“They were daring enough to pull such a stunt in broad daylight as there were many people in the area. It was like a scene in a movie,” he said

Lee Choo, 50, who sells nasi lemak nearby, was about 10m away from the gunman. 

“It was like watching an action movie. But I was in fear. Anything could have happened as the gunman was pointing his guns at everyone, especially those who were recording the robbery on their mobile phones,” she said.

Lee was relieved when the gunmen fled.

“But the fear will always be there ... a similar robbery could take place again,” she said.

Another trader, who only wished to be known as Chew, said he was shocked to see the gunman outside the goldsmith shop and his accomplices smashing the glass showcase.

Chew, 45, who sells clothes, said he was just metres away.

“The gunman looked at me but did not warn me as I did nothing except to watch the robbery. It was scary to see something like this happening with so many people around,” he said.

“It could happen again, you’ll never know.”

Police recovered two motorcycles from the back lane of a row of single-storey houses not far from the scene. The machines were reported stolen in Selayang, Selangor and Sentul, Kuala Lumpur. 

Central Seberang Prai district deputy police chief Baharom Abu said they were tracking down the suspects. 

Police have retrieved closed-circuit television footage from the neighbouring shops.

“We believe two of the suspects are from Penang while the other two could be from elsewhere,” he said.

“The robbers abandoned their bikes and escaped in a Perodua Myvi.”

He said the robbers had planned well before striking.