IPOH: The police have arrested three men suspected of robbing a Bangladeshi national while impersonating policemen in Pantai Remis, Manjung.
Perak police chief Datuk Comm Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin said the arrests of the three men, in their 40s, followed a report from the victim about the incident on July 2 at about 4.30pm.
"The victim said two men had identified themselves as policemen, handcuffed and bundled him into a car before seizing his bag containing about RM8,000.
"The suspects threatened to bring the victim to the Pantai Remis police station for further checks," he said in a press conference at the state police contingent headquarters here on Monday (July 6).
"The victim then suspected that he was being robbed after he was not headed to the police station.
"He managed to grab hold of the car's steering wheel and turn it, causing the vehicle to crash to the side of Jalan Batu 12 in Segari," he said.
"The two suspects fled with the victim's money after stopping a motorcycle that was passing by," he added.
Comm Mohd Alwi said an operation was launched on the same day at about 8.30pm and arrested three men at Jalan Besar, Gunung Tunggal in Changkat Keruing.
"The police also seized a car, several mobile phones, Automated Teller Machine cards, a pair of handcuffs, an auxiliary police card and cash.
"All suspects have various previous crime records, which included robbery, theft, vehicular theft, causing hurt and drugs," he said.
He added that two of the suspects confessed to committing the robbery.
"All three would be remanded for seven days from July 3 to 9 to facilitate investigations under Section 395/170 of the Penal Code for gang robbery and impersonating a civil servant.
"Those found guilty under Section 395 can face up to 20 years in jail and be whipped, while Section 170 could see them jailed up to two years, fined or both," he said.
Comm Mohd Alwi also said that the police would not rule out that the suspects had committed a similar modus operandi in other districts.
"Those with information of the incident are to contact investigating officer Insp Munawarrah Ahmad at 011-1624 0391 or the Manjung police operations centre at 05-689 9222," he added.
In a separate incident, Comm Mohd Alwi said police have identified the individual who injured two policemen during an operation in Ijok, Selama, in June.
He said efforts to track down the man are ongoing.
"We believe he is still in Perak," he said, adding that the two policemen are still on medical leave.
"Their injuries are quite bad," he added.
It was reported that the two policemen suffered injuries after being slashed by a suspected drug addict at Kampung Sungai Jernih in Ijok.
The suspect, 39, managed to flee following the incident.
