GEORGE TOWN: Police are actively tracking down suspects believed to be involved in a telecommunications cable theft incident at Jalan Batu Uban here, after a video of the incident went viral on social media on Tuesday (June 2).
Northeast OCPD Supt Lee Swee Sake said that his department received a report regarding the incident from Telekom Malaysia (TM) at 10:50am Tuesday morning.
"The complainant, a 41-year-old TM technician, informed that he saw a viral video lasting one minute and 24 seconds at around 7:00am which depicted a cable theft incident by the roadside at Jalan Batu Uban 1, Gelugor.
"Following this, the complainant conducted an inspection at the location and found that a TM telecommunications cable estimated to be 70m long and valued at RM17,000 had been cut and stolen,” he said in a statement.
He added that the case is being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code (Punishment for theft) and Section 235 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Damage to network facilities, etc.).
Supt Lee said that the suspects are believed to have used a dark-colored hatchback while committing the crime, and so far, the police are still conducting further investigations to track down and identify the suspects involved.
In relation to this, he urged members of the public who have information regarding the incident to come forward and assist with the investigation by contacting the Northeast District Police Headquarters Operations Room at 04-228 2222 or 04-218 1881.
Based on the viral video footage, a dark-colored car was seen being chased by several individuals riding motorcycles after the vehicle was suspected of being involved in cable theft activities in the area. — Bernama
