Office theft gang busted in Batu Kawah raid

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KUCHING: Police have busted a local break-in gang targeting commercial offices on weekends, nights, and on public holidays, following the arrest of three men on Tuesday.

District police chief ACP Roslan (centre) poses with Sub-Inspector Simon Low (fourth from right) and his CID team after presenting them with certificates during the monthly parade.

District police chief ACP Roslan Bek Ahmad disclosed that members of the gang, known as ‘Kumpulan Ah Khien’, were arrested following a raid by a special taskforce at an unnumbered house in Batu Kawah.

“Following the arrest, the suspects, aged between 41 and 48, led police to the recovery of a Toyota Crown which they used for committing the break-ins.

“They later pointed police to a house in Sungai Apong where two more local men, both aged 41, were arrested after they were found hiding in the ceiling of the house,” said Roslan during a press conference, following a monthly parade at district police headquarters here yesterday.

According to him, police also recovered numerous stolen items worth over RM20,000 from the latter two suspects, who are believed to have acted as buyers of stolen goods by the gang.

Roslan added that the two men are also suspected as being a ‘fence’ (dealers in stolen goods) for other theft gangs as the number of items found at the house in Sungai Apong was worth far more than what Kumpulan Ah Khien had claimed to have stolen.

All five suspects have since tested positive for drugs and have been remanded for four days to facilitate further investigation.

Among the items recovered by police included four televisions, an air cooler, various electronic goods, a Stihl chainsaw, home theatre system, six laptops, a Ricoh camera, two amplifiers and three security alarm systems.

With the arrests, police believe they have solved at least 10 cases of break-ins at offices and homes, and have called on victims of such crimes to go to district police headquarters to identify if any of the recovered stolen items belonged to them.

During the monthly parade earlier, Roslan presented promotion stripes to four personnel, led by district CID chief Lim Bak Phai and district Traffic and Public Order chief Amihizam Abdul Shukor, who both had their ranks confirmed as DSP having previously held a probationary rank.

He also presented certificates of commendation to Sub-Inspector Simon Low and his CID team for their role in apprehending all of the suspects involved in the recent murder of the two British medical students at Abell Road, as well as to other police personnel for recent on-the-job performance.