TAPAH: Police arrested three men on Wednesday in connection with a murder and 21 robberies in Ipoh, Penang and Kuala Lumpur.

They also recovered two cars, cash and other stolen items from the three, aged between 19 and 35, who have been remanded until Monday.

The three were members of "Geng Vios", whose leader and mastermind, known only as "Guna" from Skudai, Johor, is still at large. He is believed to be armed with a pistol.

District deputy police chief Deputy Superintendent Abdullah Arshad said police made a breakthrough when policemen in a patrol car spotted a silver Toyota Vios in a parking lot near the Tapah toll plaza at 4am.

He said the policemen noticed the three men in the car "behaving suspiciously", prompting them to check its registration number.
The checks revealed that the car had been reported stolen in Sungai Bakap, Seberang Prai, on April 4.

The policemen called for back-up and the three men were detained.

Police recovered RM5,928 cash, RM118 in coins, more cash in United States, Singapore and Brunei currencies, 15 handphones, seven pagers, two bunches of keys, a camera, a video camera, two ski masks and a parang.

"As investigations were going on, a BMW car parked nearby caught the attention of the policemen.

Upon checking, it was discovered that the vehicle had also been reported stolen.

"The car was stolen in Kampung Tawas, Ipoh, three hours earlier. We found another parang and a ski mask," said Abdullah.

The gang, he said, was believed to have been active for the past six months.

Gang members were also believed to have been involved in a murder while committing a robbery in Simpang Ampat, Seberang Prai.

They were also believed to have committed nine other robberies there and in Nibong Tebal.

Abdullah said 11 other cases were reported in Kampung Tawas, Pasir Putih, Taman Silibin and First Garden in Ipoh and another case of car theft in Klang, Selangor.