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KUCHING, Aug 11: The police have arrested three individuals believed to be involved in the ‘Geng Lan’ syndicate that it says is responsible for cable theft cases around Kuching and nearby districts.
Kuching district police officer (KPD) Ahsmon Bajah said the arrest of the three men aged between 19 and 26, took place at two different shop lots at Jalan Datuk Abdul Rahim and Jalan Setia Raja here on Aug 3.
“One of the suspects was a former contractor of Telekom Malaysia (TM) which explains how the suspect had the knowledge on how to carry out the thefts,” he said at a press conference broadcast live on Sarawak Edition Facebook page today.
The trio also tested positive for the drug methamphetamine and have up to nine police records for drug abuse and housebreaking.
Following the arrests, Ahsmon said a scrap metal dealer who allegedly bought the stolen cables was also arrested.
“At the same time, we have identified another suspect believed to be a friend of the three arrested individuals and we will launch a manhunt for him soon,” he added.
He further said the successful arrests had solved at least 18 cable theft cases with estimated losses of RM200,000.
The suspects are now under remand and investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft and Section 411 of the same Code for dishonestly receiving stolen property.
The police are also looking at the possibility of charging the suspects under Section 511 of the Penal Code for attempting to commit offences. – DayakDaily
