TEMERLOH: Seven suspects believed to belong to three criminal groups involved in stealing cables belonging to utility and telecommunications companies were arrested by police in several raids here between Sept 15 and 19.
Temerloh police chief ACP Mohd Nasyim Bahron said police arrested six men and a woman, aged between 16 and 40, and seized various items including cables, vehicles and cable-cutting equipment worth RM50,000.
"Four of those arrested have previous records for criminal and drug-related offences. Urine tests conducted on all the suspects also found that four of them tested positive for methamphetamine," he said at a press conference at the Temerloh district police headquarters here on Monday (Sept 21).
He said based on intelligence and interrogation of the seven suspects, police identified three criminal groups involved in stealing Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) cables from June to September this year.
"They are a criminal group known as 'Geng Mat Letrik', comprising two of those arrested. The next group, known as 'Geng Mista', comprises one suspect who was arrested, while the other four arrested were members of 'Geng Sasi'," he said.
Mohd Nasyim said police were actively tracking down six men from Geng Mista and Geng Sasi who were still at large and believed to be involved in the thefts.
"All those arrested are currently being remanded under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code, with investigations conducted under Sections 379 and 431A of the Penal Code, as well as Section 235(2) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
"We have completed the interrogation. The remand period ends tomorrow, and we may apply for an extension of the remand order after this," he said.
He said police believed the stolen cables were sold at RM30 per kilogramme to scrap metal dealers, including those within and outside the Temerloh district.
The activity involved not only the theft of metal but also the sabotage of national infrastructure, disruption of essential services and endangerment of public safety.
"Our message to these criminals is simple. You have disrupted the lives of Malaysians, and we will not tolerate it. We will track you down and charge you," he said. – Bernama
