KUCHING: A man who agreed to a massage service in his hotel room at Jalan Borneo was instead robbed at knife point by a group of men just past midnight yesterday.
A report of the robbery was later lodged by the man at 2.57am which saw a team from the Kuching Criminal Investigations Department (CID) springing into action and arresting all five suspects at three different locations in the city – within seven hours of when the report was made.
“The suspects were made up of four males and one female aged between 24 to 34-years-old,” said Kuching District police chief ACP Awang Din Awang Gani, who confirmed the arrests today.
He further revealed that the suspects would offer out-call “massage services” via the ‘MiChat’ application using a fake profile picture to entice their victims.
When a victim agreed for the masseuse to meet them in their hotel room, the suspects would then barge into the room and rob their victims of their money and other valuable items.
All five suspects have been remanded for further investigation under Section 395 of the Penal Code for gang robbery and Section 397 of the Penal Code for robbery when armed or with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt, which carries an imprisonment term of up to 20 years and whipping.
On another note, Awang Din is advising the public to be aware of the modus operandi of these robbers, who are targeting those staying in hotels in the city.
He also called upon the public to cooperate with the police to prevent crimes by calling their hotline at 082-244444 or the nearest police station to report suspicious activities.