SUNGAI PETANI, Dec 1 — Two men from Gombak, Selangor who frequented Langkawi to break into cars to steal cash over the last five months were arrested by police on Friday.
Kedah police chief Datuk Zainuddin Yaacob said the two, aged 20 and 32, were arrested in Kuah, Langkawi following a report lodged by a 42-year-old victim who lost RM38,000 he had withdrawn from a bank.
“Police received a report from the victim who had just withdrawn cash from a bank (and placed it in his parked car) before the car was broken into and cash was stolen at around 3.35 pm yesterday.
“Following the report, a special team was formed, and we tracked down the suspects and arrested them in front of a hotel in Kuah, and we recovered the RM38,000 in cash belonging to the victim,” he told a press conference here today.
Zainuddin said initial investigations revealed that the two suspects had rented a house and car in Langkawi to commit the crime before returning to Gombak.
“The suspect will first identify a victim who has withdrawn money from the bank before trailing the latter (to the parked car), and will break the car’s side window before retrieving the money left (unattended) in the car,” he said.
He said the two suspects were remanded for four days until Dec 3, and investigations found that they were believed to be involved in four other similar cases on the resort island, involving losses of around RM119,400.
Meanwhile, Zainuddin said police had arrested three members of the ‘Belalang Gang’ who were believed to have been involved in motorcycle theft around here, Baling, Yan, Kota Setar and Kubang Pasu since 2016.
He said all suspects, aged between 20 and 24, were detained at a house in Baling, and their arrest led to the discovery of 22 motorcycle skeleton at the house and in a river in Tanjung Dawai, here.
“Their modus operandi is to use a self-made master key and steal motorcycles placed in public areas such as supermarkets, night markets,” he said. — Bernama
