IPOH, July 6 — Police have busted a robbery syndicate that impersonated policemen with the arrest of three local men within hours of their alleged robbery of a Bangladeshi man in Manjung last Thursday.
Perak Police Chief Datuk Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin said the 45-year-old victim lodged a police report at 8.06 pm, claiming he had been robbed by two local men who identified themselves as policemen in an incident at Pantai Remis at about 4.30 pm the same day.
He said the victim was forced into a Nissan X-Trail sport utility vehicle (SUV) while being handcuffed before the suspects seized his bag and fled with RM8,000 in cash.
“The suspects had threatened to take the victim to the Pantai Remis Police Station for further inspection. However, the victim became suspicious that he was being robbed when the suspects did not head towards the police station but instead drove in another direction,” he told a press conference here, today.
He said the victim then grabbed the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to veer onto the road shoulder at Batu 12, Segari, near Lumut, before the two suspects fled with the victim’s cash after stopping a passing motorcyclist to escape from the scene.
Mohd Alwi said acting on information, a team from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Manjung District Police Headquarters along with policemen from Pantai Remis and Segari police stations, arrested three local men along Jalan Besar Gunung Tunggal in Changkat Keruing at about 8.30 pm on the same day.
He said police also seized a Nissan X-Trail, several mobile phones, ATM cards, cash, handcuffs, an auxiliary police authority card and various other items believed to be linked to the case.
“Checks revealed that all three suspects have previous criminal records involving robbery, theft, vehicle theft, causing hurt, criminal intimidation and drug-related offences. Preliminary investigations also found that two of the suspects admitted to their involvement in the robbery,” he said.
According to him, the three suspects have been remanded for seven days from July 3 to 9 to facilitate investigations under Section 395 of the Penal Code for gang robbery and Section 170 of the Penal Code for impersonating a public servant.
He said police have not ruled out the possibility that the syndicate was involved in several other robbery cases using the same modus operandi in other districts in Perak.
Members of the public with information on the case are urged to contact investigating officer Insp Munawarrah Ahmad at 011-16240391 or the Manjung District Police Headquarters Operations Room at 05-6899222 to assist investigations. — Bernama
