KUCHING, Feb 8: The police believed they had solved a series of cases involving car break-in that were reported by recreation park goers around the city, following the arrest of two men.
Kuching district police (IPD Kuching) chief ACP Awang Din Awang Gani, in a statement today, said the first suspect, a 40-year-old local man, was arrested by the police about 7.30am on Feb 6, 2021 at the Sarawak State Library parking lot while attempting to break into a vehicle.
“The suspect was finally caught following a few months of surveillance work conducted by the police. The suspect also works solo when committing the crime, using his own mini multipurpose-vehicle (MPV) as the main transportation, and his modus operandi is that he will make an initial survey on the victim’s vehicle before committing the crime.
“After the vehicle’s owner has started to move away from their vehicle to exercise, the suspect then gained entry into the victim’s vehicle by breaking the car window using a modified philips screw driver, which does not make a loud noise, and then looting the valuables inside the vehicle,” he said.
Awang Din noted, among the areas targeted by the suspect are in recreation parks, namely at the Sarawak State Library, Saradise BDC, Friendship Park, Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Recreation Park and Kuching Reservoir Park, starting as early as 6 am, due to less people in the areas during that time.
He said the suspect also targeted the vehicles that are parked in a place without any close-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring.
“Initial confession from the main suspect has revealed that he was involved in about 20 car break-in and theft cases around Kuching. All the cases have been identified and were reported previously,” he added.
Following that, Awang Din said, a team of police from the IPD Kuching Crimes Investigation Department (CID), led by ASP Baharuddin Sabang, arrested the second suspect, aged 40, on the same day, at 3pm.
“After an interrogation was conducted on the second suspect, he admitted to have been the buyer of most of the items stolen by the main suspect, which are laptop, mobile phones, including various other items,” he said.
On the same note, Awang Din revealed that many police reports have been received involving car break-in and thefts in recreation parks around the city and police personnel from IPD Kuching have been working hard to track down the suspect involved, which resulted in the arrest.
He said further investigation will continue until those who are involved, especially the buyers of the stolen items, are arrested and charged in court.
“Remand order applications for the two suspects have been approved by the Kuching Magistrate’s Court for four days until Feb 11, 2021, to facilitate investigation.
“Background check revealed that both suspects have previous crime records related to property crimes, and both were found to be negative for drugs during an initial urine test conducted.
“The case is being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code which provides for imprisonment up to a maximum of seven years and shall also be fined or whipped for a second offence, and for those individuals who purchase the stolen goods, they will be investigated under Section 414 of the Penal Code which provides for imprisonment of seven years, or a fine or both,” he said.
Public who have made their report regarding car break-in and theft in the said location can come forward to their nearest police station to identify the items that were successfully confiscated from the suspect. Contact ASP Baharuddin (Intelligence/Operation officer) at 013-5654600 or Sgt Suffiani (investigating officer) at 013-3135262. — DayakDaily
