PERMATANG PAUH, 18 Dec 2008: Police shot dead four criminals, believed to be members of a housebreaking and robbery gang which is active in the state, in a shootout in Guar Perahu here at about 5am today.
State deputy police chief Datuk Salleh Mat Rasid said two of the men were foreigners, believed to be Indonesians, while the other two were locals. All were aged between 30 and 40.
He said that police, upon receiving a tip off on a gang seen loitering in Guar Perahu, sent an officer and seven men to investigate.
The police team saw a dark blue Pajero with its occupants behaving in a suspicious manner at the junction to Taman Guar Perahu and tailed it.
“Upon realising that police were behind them, they accelerated and one of them opened fire at the police,” he said, adding that a shootout ensured and all the four were shot dead.
He said police found a pistol and several sharp weapons including housebreaking tools at the scene.
Initial investigation showed that the two locals had criminal records and one was on the police wanted list, while the two foreigners had no identification papers on them.
The Pajero carried false registration plates and police were investigating whether it had been stolen, he said.
He said that with the crippling of the gang, whose modus operandi was to break into houses, tie up the victims and escape with their valuables, police believed that several housebreakings and robberies in the state had been solved. — Bernama
