Cops arrest eight for stealing communications cables

KLANG: Police here have arrested eight men in connection with the theft of nearly RM6,000 worth of copper telecommunications cables.

South Klang OCPD Asst Comm Cha Hoong Fong said a police team from the Pandamaran police station were on their crime prevention patrols on Sunday (May 14) when they came across a man standing near a car along Jalan Selat Selatan 21.

“They found that the 39-year-old local had 17 prior records for criminal and drug offences.

“When questioned by the officers, the man failed to give a convincing reason as to why he was waiting in the area.

“At this point, another man suddenly emerged from the telecommunications manhole there,” he said in a statement.

ACP Cha said the 27-year-old man who was detained has six drug and crime-related records.

“We found nine rolls of cables which had Telekom Malaysia printed on them and tools used to cut cables.

“Telekom Malaysia representatives came to the scene and confirmed to the officers that the cables belonged to them and were worth RM5,000,” he said adding that both suspects were charged at the Klang Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday (May 17).

ACP Cha said on Monday (May 15), police received a report from a Telekom Malaysia officer.

“The officer claimed that he has received complaints of telecommunication problems from users in Taman Sentosa, Klang. He went to the location and found that at least 20m of cables were missing,” he said.

He added following that, police launched a series of raids and arrested six suspects aged between 31 and 60.

Three of them had multiple prior criminal records.

“One of them was also wanted in connection with a housebreaking case in Subang Jaya.

“We also seized a lorry which was believed to have been used in the incident,” he said.

ACP Cha said investigations revealed that the suspects stole the cables before burning them to retrieve the copper wires. The copper wires would then be sold to scrap metal dealers.