KUALA LUMPUR: Police arrested five local men to assist in the investigation of a robbery case at Shell Mastiara, Jalan Kampung Batu, here, on Dec 19.

       Sentul police chief ACP Beh Eng Lai said all individuals aged between 28 and 42 were arrested during raids at several locations on Dec 21 and Dec 28.

       "All the suspects have various previous criminal records and were remanded at the Sentul district police headquarters (IPD) from Dec 20 to Dec 28 before being handed over to the Sungai Buloh IPD for further investigation.

       "Among the items seized in the raid were two machetes, seven mobile phones of various brands, a spanner and an Allen key which were suspected to be used for theft," he said in a statement on Wednesday (Jan 5).

       Beh said the initial investigation found that the modus operandi was gang robbery using weapons and target victims who were riding in luxury cars and wearing jewellery while refuelling at petrol stations.

       "Police found that the suspects involved were believed to be four to five people riding in a dark green Proton Wira car with registration number PDX 9929.

       "In the incident, the suspect pulled the victim's gold necklace while pointing a machete at the victim who was refuelling but the attempt failed when the victim fled.

       "However, the suspect ran away with the victim's wallet," he said.

       Commenting further, the operation carried out has successfully solved three robbery cases reported around Kuala Lumpur and two cases in Selangor.

       "The case is being investigated under Section 395/397 of the Penal Code for gang and armed robbery," he said. - Bernama