Published on: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 |
Penampang Police Chief, DSP Ratan Kumar Singh on Monday said a police team led by Inspector Abd Aziz Abu Hashim arrested the first suspect, a 31-year-old local at Kampung Dumpil in Putatan at 5pm on Jan 12 following a report lodged at 4.30am the same day.
"Police also confiscated a 30hp Mercury engine attached to a boat believed to have been used by the suspect when committing the crime," he said.
Ratan said his arrest led to the capture of a second suspect, 30, believed to be a foreigner, who tried to escape in a fishing boat near the Segama Waterfront roundabout here.
He said based on information police recovered a 15hp Yamaha engine kept in two boxes and hidden among bushes along Jalan Kampung Dumpil Kuala Dua in Putatan at 7.30pm.
"Two other Yamaha engines of similar horsepower were recovered by villagers at 10am the next day," he added.
He said police had not ruled out that the suspects might have been involved in other theft cases, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code.
He said their modus operandi was to target those who leave their boat engines in their boat unattended for several days before stealing the engines during the night or early morning when everyone was asleep.
'It takes only a few minutes to remove the engines from the boat after which they would dismantle the engines and stash them in several boxes before selling it to people from other districts," he said.
Towards this end, Ratan applauded the team led by Inspector Aziz for their prompt action in nabbing the culprits.
He urged the public to immediately contact the police at 088-310237 or 088-243295 if they come across any crime activities.
