TELUK INTAN: Police have smashed an armed robbery gang which slashed their victim with a machete with the arrest of nine people, masterminded by a 30-year-old woman.
All nine suspects, including a married couple and siblings, were also involved in the jewellery and car theft belonging to an elderly man in Taman Indah Jaya here on Nov 22.
Hilir Perak district police chief Assistant Commissioner Ahmad Adnan Basri said that all seven male and two female suspects aged between 20 and 34 were arrested in five separate raids in Teluk Intan, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur between Nov 29 and Dec 3.
Ahmad Adnan said that initial investigation found that the robbery was led by the single woman who was arrested in Jalan Changkat Jong here, and she admitted to being an informer about the elderly male victim who lives alone.
"After being interrogated by the police, it led to another eight arrests and all of them also tested positive for methamphetamine and had previous criminal records related to crime and drug abuses.
"During the raids, police also found case items and two machetes, a Perodua Axia car, two gold chains with a pendant, a ring, a pair of earrings, a piece of melted gold and a pawnbroker's receipt.
"The value of the victim's loss is about RM60,000 and all the suspects have been remanded until today," he said in a press conference at the Hilir Perak district police headquarters here, yesterday.
The case is being investigated under Section 394 of the Penal Code which is robbery that causes injury and Section 379A of the Penal Code for motor vehicle theft.
Ahmad Adnan said police believe that the group had just become active and the case was considered closed with the arrest of all the suspects and the discovery of all the case items.
In the 3pm incident, a 74-year-old man who is also a former security guard was injured after being slashed by a machete and received five stitches at Teluk Intan Hospital.
The victim who lives alone after the death of his wife was approached by a male offering to do renovation work on the fence in front of his house.