SERDANG: Nine men have been detained in connection with the theft of equipment used for bitcoin mining worth more than RM500,000.

Serdang OCPD Asst Comm Megat Mohammad Aminudin Megat Alias said the suspects were arrested here at about 10pm on Feb 23.

"We were acting on information obtained when the suspects attempted to sell the equipment via a website and Facebook.

"We managed to recover 58 machines worth more than RM500,000," he said when contacted Tuesday (Feb 27).

He added that the suspects were believed to be involved in various similar cases, including robbing a bitcoin miner in Serdang on Feb 16.

"We received four other similar reports in three areas in Serdang.

"We managed to solve two cases with the arrests of the suspects. As for the remaining cases, we have credible leads and the investigations are still ongoing," he said.

In an unrelated case, a gang of robbers, which mostly comprised Filipinos, were detained after robbing a man of RM7,000 at a hypermarket in Puchong.

ACP Megat Mohammad Aminudin said six men approached the victim at the hypermarket at about 12.30pm on Feb 25.

"One of them feigned fainting. With the victim distracted, another suspect attempted to spray the victim's eyes with chilli powder but missed.

"One of the suspects then pick-pocketed the victim and stole RM7,000 cash before the rest of the gang made a run for it.

"However, the victim managed to catch up to one of the suspects and detained him before handing the suspect over to the police," he said.

The detained suspect – a 40-year-old Filipino man – led police to seven of his accomplices.

"The suspects were about to leave for Thailand by bus when they were arrested," he said.