RAWANG: Three suspected vehicle thieves were killed following a shootout with the police at Persiaran Kota Emerald here Saturday (Jan 18).
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the police conducted an operation codenamed "Ops Lejang" and attempted to arrest them at about noon on Saturday.
"Police officers tried to stop the suspects and introduce themselves, but instead, the suspects opened fire.
"A chase ensued for about 750m in Kota Emerald.
"When they were cornered, the suspects shot at the police officers forcing them to fire back, subsequently killing them," he told reporters at the scene on Saturday.
Comm Mohd Shuhaily said the group of thieves would use rental cars and fake number plates to conduct vehicle thefts.
"We believe they were attempting to perform another theft when police officers caught up to them.
"They have already stolen 17 vehicles this year. Two of the suspects have been identified and they are aged 40 and 43 years old, respectively," he added.
Both suspects have criminal records with multiple offences while the police are still in the midst of identifying the third suspect.
"The younger suspects had 24 prior offences and was wanted for five cases.
"The 43-year-old suspect had 44 offences and was wanted for six criminal cases and one drug-related case," he said.
Comm Mohd Shuhaily said the third suspect did not have identification documents.
"We also seized a semi-automatic pistol, two masks, five number plates believed to be fake, a gadget used to deactivate vehicle arms and two machetes.
"We will test the pistol to see whether it was used in other crimes," he said.
