TAPAH: Two hours. That was all it took for five men released from jail to get themselves into trouble again.
Perhaps desperate as they had no money after being released from Tapah prison after serving sentences for drug-related offences, the five got together and robbed the MCA Tapah secretary of RM2,000 cash, a mobile phone and a car.
District police chief Superintendent Somsak Din Keliaw said the incident occurred at 12.30pm on March 2, at the MCA Tapah office itself.
He said the victim lodged a report stating that he was confronted by “a group of men whose heads were shaved” who then tied his hands and feet with computer cables.
“This group of men relieved the victim of RM2,000, mobile phone and the keys to a Proton Persona, which they then drove off. They were reported to have driven off in the direction of Ipoh,” he said.
Somsak said police investigations led to the arrests of three men in separate raids at their homes on March 8.
Another man, he said, was nabbed two days later, while the fifth is still be sought.
“Initial investigations revealed that the men had been released from Tapah prison and then sent to the Tapah bus terminal, arriving there about 11am. We believe that, since they did not have any money, they could not afford to buy bus tickets so they robbed someone and ran off with the victim’s car, which we later found in an apartment complex in Buntong, Ipoh,” said Somsak.
Police, he said, were now looking for a 51-year-old man identified as K. Baskaran to assist investigations.
They believe Baskaran, whose last known address is in Kampung Kacang Putih in Buntong, can shed some light into the case.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact the nearest police station.
Somsak said police have obtained 14-day remand orders against those detained.