KUCHING: House owners are urged to maintain vigilance and take extra precautions in safeguarding their homes in light of recent robberies by armed and masked intruders.
Padawan District police chief Supt Ng Ah Lek said keeping homes well-lit both inside and outside during the night, as well as keeping a close eye on the presence of suspicious persons or vehicles, were just some of the precautions home owners could take to minimise the possibility of falling victims.
“I wish to advise the public not to leave their homes unlit. Make sure the lights in the compound are switched on and contact the police immediately should you notice anything or anyone suspicious in your housing area,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Ng gave this advice following yet another robbery by a masked gang at the home of a private company manager at Taman Sri Moyan, along Jalan Batu Kawah-Matang here early Thursday morning.
In the 3am incident, four masked individuals entered the double storey semi-detached house via the kitchen window after damaging the grille.
The 44-year-old manager, who woke up after hearing some neighbourhood dogs barking, decided to go downstairs to check and armed himself with a baseball bat.
He soon encountered two of the robbers in the kitchen and struck one of them on the head with the bat, but was soon overpowered by the other three intruders and bound with rafia string while having a knife placed against his neck.
His wife and three teenage daughters, aged between 14 and 19, came downstairs after hearing the commotion and ended up being bound as well as having their mouth sealed with masking tape.
The entire family was then herded into a room-cum-office on the lower floor where they remained for nearly 45 minutes while the robbers ransacked the house of over RM4,000 in cash, two mobile phones, a laptop, two wristwatches, a pair of shoes and some personal documents.
The gang then demanded for the key to the manager’s Toyota Hilux and made good their escape with the four-wheel drive vehicle.
Commenting on the incident, Ng said initial investigation indicated that at least two of the suspects are believed to be foreign nationals based on their accents, while another is thought to be a local.
The fourth suspect, he added, did not utter a word throughout the robbery.
“The house is equipped with four security cameras – two in front and one each at the side and rear. Based on the footage, the suspects looked to be between five and five-and-a-half feet tall, with fairly dark skin and aged in their 30s,” disclosed Ng.
He also revealed that police forensics personnel were able to obtain a fingerprint of one of the suspects at the crime scene and have sent the weapons and other items left behind by the robbers for analysis.
The Taman Sri Moyan robbery came a day after a house at Kampung Haji Baki was struck by a gang of masked foreigners.
In the 3.30am incident, three intruders broke into the house via a kitchen window and bound the owner and his son before escaping with cash, gold jewellery and other valuables.
Based on the similar modus operandi in both incidents, police are not discounting the probability that the same gang was responsible for pulling off both home robberies.