GEORGE TOWN: If you were stuck in a massive traffic jam from George Town or Bayan Lepas to the Penang Bridge today, you have the cashier and auditor of a famous nasi kandar restaurant here to thank for.
The duo led the police on a wild goose chase, with patrol cars and roadblocks set up to catch a group of armed robbers who had allegedly relieved them of the eatery’s three day’s takings worth RM122,555 while they were on their way to the bank.
Checks later showed that they made up the story in order to keep the money for themselves.
The duo have since been arrested.
Northeast district police chief Assistant Commissioner Soffian Santung said the cashier and auditor had lodged a police report at 12pm today, saying they were robbed in Lebuh Nipah 2 by two men.
“Based on their report, the restaurant staff claimed their motorcycle was stopped by two men wearing police vests. The bogus cops had asked the two men to produce their identification cards.
“One of the robbers then produced a knife while the other shoved a gun into other victim’s stomach, demanding that they hand over the bag containing the cash.
“After obtaining their loot, the suspects fled,” said Soffian.
Soffian said the cashier and auditor claimed they were unable to identify the robbers, or even specify their skin tone as the ‘bandits’ were wearing full-faced helmets. These robbers, they claimed, spoke in Bahasa Melayu.
There were also no closed-circuit television cameras around the area of the alleged incident.
The authorities later recovered the cash, which was hidden in a car.
Soffian said police spoke to witnesses who helped them solve the case. Police will be recommending for the duo to be charged under Section 182 of the Penal Code for lodging a false police report.