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- Zailanni (second left) and other senior officers show the stolen items seized from the suspects.
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- Police personnel pose beside two cars and two motorcycles that are among items recovered during the operations.
BINTULU: The police have arrested several members and leaders of two local gangs that have been active in house-breaking and car thefts here through ‘Ops Lejang’ and ‘Ops Pintu’ of late.
Bintulu police chief Supt Zailanni Amit said with the 10 individuals arrested the police believed they have solved 23 cases reported in the division and also recovered several stolen items. The first group specialising in house-breaking is identified as ‘Gang Mok’. Four individuals including their leader were arrested but one of them is still at large.
Meanwhile, two individuals including the leader of ‘Gang John’, which is active in car theft and house-breaking were also arrested. One of them is, however, still at large.
Zailanni said the leaders of the two groups had previous criminal records for committing various offences. He added that those arrested were being remanded to assist in the investigations under Section 457 of the Penal Code for house-breaking and Section 379A of the Penal Code for car theft.
Earlier, police arrested a man in possession of a stolen motorcycle who was subsequently sentenced to 12 months’ jail.
In other related cases, a couple were nabbed and charged in court yesterday for breaking into a car and another man was detained to assist further investigation into a car theft case.
“They are believed to have been involved in 14 house-breaking cases, three car theft cases and six car breaking cases which were all reported this year,” Zailanni told a press conference at the police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) office here yesterday.
He added that there was a significant decrease in criminal cases recorded this year compared to last year as a result of continuous enforcement. “Bintulu recorded 328 criminal cases in the first seven months of this year compared to 509 cases in the same period last year,” he said.
For house-breaking and theft, 76 cases were recorded from January to July this year compared to 115 cases in the same period last year. There were 84 car theft cases recorded in the seven-month period this year compared to 138 cases in the same period last year. There were 90 motorcycle theft cases recorded from January to July this year compared to 149 cases in the same period last year.
“I would like to remind the public not to buy any items sold at very low prices which also do not have any valid documents. If arrested for possessing stolen goods, you can be sentenced to six months but not more than five years’ jail or a fine under Section 411 of the Penal Code.
“A person found to have disposed or hid stolen goods can be sentenced to seven years’ jail or a fine or both on conviction” he added. Zailanni said their operations were on-going and would be further intensified from time-to-time to protect the people and their properties.