TAIPING, 28 March 2009: Police succeeded in smashing a dangerous gang involved in shooting dead a Tesco hypermarket store operations manager on 18 March in two separate operations in Bukit Merah last night.
Perak police chief Datuk Zulkefli Abdullah said in the first incident at 1.40pm yesterday, a police team from the Perak contingent headquarters and the Bukit Aman CID branch received information that three men in a Toyota Camry were behaving suspiciously at the Bukit Merah toll plaza.
“When the police team stopped the vehicle for inspection, the driver rammed into their Proton Waja and the Nissan Sentra. The team shot at the car which rammed into an electrical pole.
“All three were arrested,” Zulkefli said at a news conference in Bukit Gantang, adding that the three aged 27-31 years were from Kedah and Johor and had criminal records.
He said a follow-up operation saw police coming upon another Toyota Camry with three men in it at the Bukit Merah Laketown Resort at 2.30pm the same day.
“Police were about to inspect the car when they were shot at. Fire was returned in self-defence and all three were shot dead,” he said, adding that all three aged 27-35 years of age were believed to be from Malacca and Johor and had no less than nine criminal records involving armed robbery and murder.
“We seized three pistols, 154 bullets and RM159,000 in cash,” he said.
Zulkefli said police believed they had solved no less than 15 cases of armed robbery in Perak, Penang, Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor with the smashing of the “trigger happy” gang. — Bernama
