Rogue cop in cyber cafe robbery held

KUALA LUMPUR: Police officers watching CCTV footage of a robbery here were shocked to find their colleague in the starring role.

They later arrested a 47-year-old corporal for robbing a cyber cafe of RM2,000 in Selayang Jaya on Valentine’s Day.

The corporal had allegedly barged into the empty cafe at around 4am dressed in civilian clothes.

Walking up to the counter, the man is said to have shoved the defenceless female owner of the cafe before helping himself to RM2,000 from the cash register.

When police obtained CCTV footage of the incident, several inspectors recognised the suspect as their colleague and apprehended the man at his quarters at the Gombak police headquarters on the same day.

Gombak OCPD ACP Abdul Rahim Abdullah said the corporal, who had been working at the Selayang station for about two years, had been transferred here from another district due to disciplinary problems.

“I am very disappointed that this was done by one of our own. It’s like that saying – harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi (betrayed by someone you trusted).

“We are weeding out the bad cops in our midst. As professional law enforcers, it doesn’t matter whether the rules are broken by civilians or our own personnel – a crime is a crime,” said ACP Abdul Rahim.

A police source told The Star that the suspect, who was married, had a bad reputation for drug abuse and was previously tested positive.

The suspect, who had been put under remand until Feb 21, is being investigated under Section 392 of the Penal Code for robbery.