Six armed robbery suspects shot dead in Kulim

SUNGAI PETANI, 18 Feb 2009: Police shot dead six armed robbery suspects and detained four women in a shoot-out at a house in Kampung Kemunting, Karangan, in Kulim yesterday.

State police chief Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan said that in the 10.10pm incident, a team of eight police officers, acting on a tip-off, raided a house which was believed to be used as a centre for illegal gold smelting.

“When the police barged into the house and introduced themselves, six men between the ages of 20 and 50, fired several shots at them. In defence, the police fired back and the shots hit the six suspects,” he told reporters here today.

He said four women, aged between 21 and 28, who were in the house were detained to assist police investigations.

Syed Ismail said all the suspects killed in the incident were believed to be  involved in armed-robbery cases reported in Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor, adding that the group’s last heist was in Sitiawan, Perak.

The house served as a place for them to smelt the gold loot obtained from their robberies, he added.

He said the identities of the suspects would be revealed after police had notified their families.

However, he said, three of them were from Kulim, one from Selama in Perak, the other had an address in Johor, while another had no personal documents on him.

On the women who were detained, Syed Ismail said they were from Penang and Bandar Baru in Kedah, adding that police were investigating their relations with the six suspects.

He said police searched the house, which was recently built, and found two pistols — a Smith & Wesson 9mm with seven rounds of ammunition and a .38 revolver with five rounds of ammunition.

Police also seized three luxury cars — a BMW, a Proton Perdana and a Cherokee four-wheel-drive vehicle — and several equipment used for gold smelting, he added. — Bernama