Malaysian states on ‘high alert’ following spate of jewellery store robberies

KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia) — Following three jewellery store robberies in just four days, all state police in Malaysia have been placed on high alert.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohamad Fuzi Harun said investigators are tracking down the suspects in all three back-to-back incidents.

While there has been speculation that the robberies were committed by the same gang, the IGP said initial investigations suggest all three cases in Cheras (Kuala Lumpur), Bangi (Selangor) and Seremban (Negeri Sembilan) are isolated and not linked.

“Their modus operandi are different, some were armed with different weapons and the number of suspects involved in each case also varied,” he told Malay Mail.

Mr Mohamad Fuzi said police are looking at similar robberies in the past to see if there is a link to the recent cases.

Last night in Seremban, a jewellery shop in Palm Mall shopping centre in Kemaman Square was robbed by a group of eight gunmen who fled with six trays of jewellery.

The eight robbers, who were all wearing full-faced helmets, stormed into the store and smashed the glass display panels and grabbed the trays in just three minutes during the 8pm incident.

A shotgun was reported to have been found near the scene of crime, believed to have been left by one of the fleeing robbers.

Just hours before this incident, a trio of robbers wearing motorcycle helmets with visors had also carted away RM370,000 (S$123,000) worth of jewellery in less than five minutes from a goldsmith in Taman Bangi Avenue in CS Supermarket, Persiaran Bangi Avenue.

Eyewitnesses claim three suspects used a hammer to break the display cases before escaping on two motorcycles at 11.22am.

Police said one of the suspects was also seen with an object that looked like a gun but no shots were fired.

He said the suspects only took two minutes to escape with three trays of jewellery hallmarked with the 916 stamp which indicates the ornaments are at least 91.6 per cent pure gold.

On New Year’s Eve, a gold heist took place within three minutes at a shopping mall in Taman Segar, Cheras, which involved a group of 10 men armed with hammers, who fled with jewellery worth RM1.5 million.

On November 1 last year, Wah Chan in Giant Kota Damansara was robbed at 10.55am of RM1.1 million worth of gold items. THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE