KUCHING: Police arrested 15 individuals working in small groups involved in stealing Telekom Malaysia (TM) cables in Bintulu during a two-day integrated operation from Monday.
Bintulu district police chief Supt Nixon Joshua Ali said the suspects were aged between 16 and 65, with 11 of them being locals while the remaining four were foreigners.
"Ten of the suspects have been charged, while investigations on the remaining five are still ongoing. The estimated loss due to cable theft is around RM500,000," he said in a statement last night (February 1).
Nixon said the modus operandi of these cable theft groups involved cutting cables along the roadside before entering tunnels where cable connections were located.
He said the case is currently being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code for suspected cable theft. --BERNAMA