Robbers who blew up ATMs among held
Published on: Sunday, January 01, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Police believe they have solved at least four robbery cases in and around the city with the arrest of four men in raids conducted on Friday and Saturday.In a press conference here, Saturday, State Crime Investigation Department (CID) Chief SAC Datuk Salehuddin Abdul Rahman said three of the suspects, aged 23, 26 and 31, were arrested at a workshop in Taman Mewah, Kolombong at about 9.43pm on Friday.The arrests were made following investigation into an armed robbery case at a mini market in Luyang on Dec 27.
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During the incident, three workers at the mini market reported of being robbed by two masked and armed men who took away two cash register machines from the store.The two suspects escaped in a Proton Saga. The witnesses, however, were unable to ascertain the type of weapons used by the suspects and the getaway car's registration number."The city police CID set up a task force to investigate the case and based on intelligence, a raiding team raided the workshop in Kolombong," he said.During the raid, he said police found a Styer 9mm pistol and a magazine loaded with 10 9mm bullets, which was holstered on the waist of the 26-year-old suspect. Police also confiscated the said suspect's Toyota Vios.
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"Further interrogations led to the discovery of another pistol, a Smith and Wesson 0.38 revolver, four bullets and one bullet casing hidden in the 26-year-old suspect's house in Kampung Muhibbah, Putatan," he said.The same suspect then led the police to a bush near the village where they recovered the two cash register machines believed to be those that were robbed from the mini market on Dec 27.
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On Saturday, police arrested another suspect, 22, at Taman Jumbo in Petagas at about 1am and seized a black Toyota Hilux from him as they believe that he was also involved in the robbery. "We believe there may be others involved and will be tracking down on them," he added.During the arrests, police also seized two motorcycles belonging to the 26-year-old and 22-year-old suspects, which were bought by cash as revealed by them, two Iphone 6s, a Nokia handphone, an Asus handphone and a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge handphone.Salehuddin said further investigation revealed the Styer pistol seized from the 26-year-old suspect could be the same pistol which was reported missing in Donggongon by a policeman on Oct 28."The policeman claimed that he lost the pistol while he was sleeping in his car but we will conduct a thorough operation to ascertain whether or not his story is true or whether the pistol was lost due to carelessness," he said, adding that the police are also investigating where the suspects obtained the revolver.Investigations also showed the suspects were also involved in an attempted ATM theft in Putatan on May 9, an ATM explosion in Membakut on May 11 and another ATM explosion in Putatan on June 24."The ATM explosion in Membakut incurred a loss of RM88,970, while the ATM explosion in Putatan incurred a loss of RM254,550," he added.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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