Eight, who were formerly restricted, preyed on lone women drivers in Klang Valley
Sentul police chief Assistant Commissioner Zakaria Pagan with some of the valuables seized from the gang members
EIGHT youths, who were released two months ago after being held under the Emergency Ordinance, regrouped and pulled off at least 16 robberies in the Klang Valley.
Four of them were held under the EO in Machang, Kelantan and when they were released, they met up with four other friends who were similarly released, to form the robbery gang.
Two months ago, they came down to the city where they targeted women drivers who stopped at traffic lights.+
Sentul police chief Assistant Commissioner Zakaria Pagan said the gang, on motorcycles, would stop along the victim's car and hook out the handbags which were left on the front passenger seat.
"They were opportunists. They would only look out for cars with the front passenger window down. Anything left on the seat, they would grab.
"Using this simple modus operandi, the gang had struck on at least 16 occasions in the Klang Valley. All their victims were women driving alone."
Sentul police formed a special team and on Sunday following a tip-off, they nabbed the gang leader at a petrol station in Jalan Segambut here. After questioning, the 22-year-old suspect led police team to a rented house in Damansara Damai where the rest of the gang members were staying.
"All seven members were nabbed and police also found several expensive handbags, watches, a gold chain, several cellular phones and three stolen motorcycles."
All the suspects had previous records for robbery, car theft and drug abuse. They also tested positive for drugs and were remanded until Thursday to facilitate investigations.
In another case, Zakaria said police arrested four car thieves, including a woman, in Sentul, on Sunday.
He said police also recovered six stolen Toyota Wish from various locations in Kajang and Subang Jaya.
Two of the suspects, he said, had a long list of convictions for vehicle thefts.
