Towards Lesser Crime In JB (11)

Snatch Theft (2)

Mat Dugong Held For Over 50 Snatch Thefts

JOHOR BARU: Months of using the same motorcycle and modus operandi to snatch the belongings of his victims proved to be the downfall for a notorious snatch thief known as "Mat Dugong" here on Friday.

The 25-year-old man, who used a black Kawasaki Kips, had been under police surveillance for several weeks and was believed to be linked to about 50 cases of snatch thefts in the city.

His hefty physique, which had been described by his victims in their reports, gave him the nickname Mat Dugong, after the large marine mammal.

It is learnt that the man, who had a 24-year-old accomplice, usually targeted people carrying expensive gadgets such as iPhones, Acer notebooks and DSLR cameras.

The man was arrested at a house in Kempas early Friday by a criminal investigation team from the Johor Baru (north) district police headquarters about 8.30am.

In the house, police found mobile phones, smartphones, wristwatches, wallets, cameras and portable wireless broadband devices. These were believed to have been taken from the suspect's victims.

His accomplice was later picked up at a house in Jalan Puchung, Taman Perling, the same day.

Police also seized a motorcycle believed to have been used by the duo, as well as a Proton Iswara.

Initial investigations revealed that the suspect and his accomplice had used the same modus operandi for more than six months.

Both suspects would wear overalls to give the impression that they were factory hands working in Singapore.

They would target pedestrians, mainly young people in their 20s and 30s.

Some Singaporeans had also fallen victim to the two suspects.

The duo's target areas were mainly busy roads such as Jalan Skudai and also the Taman Perling residential area.

The suspects were also believed to have snatched the belongings of other motorcycle riders.

Source: New Straits Times - October 24, 2010

******

Man Becomes A Victim Of Snatch Theft And Shooting

JOHOR BARU: After allegedly losing more than RM5,000 to a snatch thief, another misfortune hit the victim – he was shot twice during an argument with a security guard here.
Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Zainuddin Yaacob said the incident happened at a moneychanger’s shop in Jalan Harimau Tarom at 5pm yesterday.
Relating the events that led to the shooting, ACP Zainuddin said the victim had earlier gone to the shop with his brother to exchange some cash.
However, the money totalling more than RM5,000 was allegedly lost to a snatch thief at Taman Majidee while they were on their way home.
The man reported the matter at the Majidee police station and returned to the moneychanger’s shop to try to view a closed-circuit TV footage that might show if anyone had followed him.
“The man spoke to the security guard who was reluctant to show him the footage,” said ACP Zainuddin, adding that an argument broke out between the two.
In a scuffle that followed, the guard allegedly fired two shots from his handgun, both of which hit the complainant in the waist.
ACP Zainuddin said the victim had been warded at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital while the guard had surrendered his weapon and turned himself in.

Source: The Star - Sunday, July 18, 2010

******

A snatch theft and robbery gang in Johor Bahru is halted with the arrests of six members between the ages of 19 and 26, who were high on the wanted list.

Johor police chief Datuk Mokhtar Shariff said the gang members were notorious and had been active in JB for the last three months before they were caught here in early February, 2011.

"Three of the six suspects also had prior convictions for vehicle theft and extortion."

The authorities also recovered stolen vehicles, computers, digital cameras, hand-phones and cash in local and Singapore currencies during a raid at a house in Skudai Kiri.

They also seized two packets of amphetamine-type stimulants from the gang, whose members were also tested positive for syabu.

In a separate case two weeks earlier, in January, police were tracking down members of another notorious robbery gang linked to at least 17 cases of wayside robberies and snatch thefts.

Its 22-year-old leader was nabbed in Jalan Meldrum and was detained under preventive laws.

****** 

Volunteer Loses Life Chronicles To Snatch Thief

JOHOR BARU: An Australian volunteer may have lost 25 years of her life chronicles as a volunteer among orphans in Timor Leste after her handbag was snatched at a shopping mall here on Tuesday.

Lala Noronha (pic), 55, who is writing about her experience after spending much of her life among orphans, lost her passport, a digital camera, three USB drives and a recording device, which she had used to dictate her experiences.
The woman said the incident happened while she was having her breakfast at a fast food outlet in City Square Johor Baru shopping mall here at 8.30am on that day.
“I was shocked when a well-dressed man who was sitting a few tables behind me suddenly snatched my handbag,” she added.
Noronha added that without her pictures and recording device, she was not sure how she could continue writing her autobiography.
“I began writing the book two years ago and it is now only 70% completed.
“I am supposed to finish writing the book and have it published by Novem-ber,” she said in between sobs.
Noronha said her autobiography would detail her life experiences in working closely with the Malaysian army and police in their peacekeeping mission in Timor Leste.
“My only hope is to retrieve my recording device and USB pen drives, which contain most of the pictures and journals chronicling my work in Timor Leste and Malaysia.
“I would like to appeal to the man responsible to return these items,” she said, adding that the he could keep the cash.
When contacted, Johor Baru (south) OCPD Asst Comm Zainuddin Yaakob confirmed the case.

Source:  The Star - Sunday, January 31, 2010

Towards Lesser Crime In JB (10)

Snatch Theft 

Snatch Thieves Meek As Mice Before Men In Blue

THEY may look tough while threatening a woman with a parang to hand over her handbag, but when faced with the men in blue, two snatch-thieves turned pale.

The suspects in their 20s had merely minutes earlier stopped a woman, who was walking along Jalan Sri Lanang in Johor Baru at about 1.30am on April 26.

Armed with a parang, they forced the victim to hand over her handbag, before fleeing the scene on a motorcycle.

However, the victim’s boyfriend, who witnessed the incident, gave chase on his motorcycle while the victim called the Johor police hotline and relayed the description of the suspects and their motorcycle to the officer in charge.

Johor Baru (south) police chief ACP Zainuddin Yaacob said a mobile police crime prevention patrol unit in the vicinity was alerted by the Central Monitoring Centre based at the Johor police contingent here.

Within minutes of the alert, the policemen had spotted and intercepted the suspects.

The suspects meekly handed over the handbag without the slightest struggle.

Zainuddin said the handbag was found to belong to the victim.

It contained her identification documents, ATM bankcards and mobile phone.

He said the suspects in custody were believed to be members of a snatch-theft group that had been active since the beginning of the year.

The thieves worked in pairs and targeted women in the area.

Initial investigations revealed that the suspects’ modus operandi included stopping motorcyclists with female pillion riders under the pretext of asking for directions.

While one asked for directions, the accomplice would snatch the woman’s handbag.

Force or weapons were used when faced with feisty victims.

The suspects have previous criminal records for petty crime and drug abuse.

They have been remanded under Section 395/397 of the Penal Code for gang and armed robbery and face a 20-year imprisonment term and whippings if found guilty.

Source: New Straits Times - May 9, 2011

****** ****** ******

Police arrested 14 men, all in their 20s and 30s, in connection with the death of a woman during a botched snatch theft here on Friday February 24, 2011.

They were picked up by a special team from the Johor police contingent headquarters.

Police also raided several budget hotels and three known drug haunts in the Tampoi area, where they believed the wanted suspects were hiding, in the district-wide effort to arrest those responsible.
A police source said the suspects included some foreigners.

"The suspects, mainly motorcyclists, are believed to be repeat robbers and snatch thieves as some have prior records."
"All have also tested positive for drugs after their arrests," said the source.

The source said snatch theft gangs were rampant along some busy stretches in the city.
 

Police forensic personnel examining the spot at Km8.9 of Jalan Skudai, Johor Baru, where a pillion rider was killed. — Photo Source: New Straits Times - February 25, 2011

On Friday morning, February 24, 2011, 52-year old Alamelu Ramasamy was killed at Km8.9 Jalan Skudai during a snatch theft attempt by two men on separate motorcycles.

In the 6am incident at Km8.9 of Jalan Skudai, three men, believed to be foreigners, each riding a motorcycle, allegedly boxed in D. Ganesh, 36, and his sister-in-law, Alamelu Ramasamy, 52, who was pillion riding.

One of the men was said to have tried to snatch Alamelu's pouch bag, causing her to fell backwards and Ganesh to lose control of his machine.

Alamelu died on the spot after falling off a motorcycle during the robbery attempt.

Ganesh, who stays with his brother and sister-in-law in Taman Universiti here, was sending Alamelu to the JB Sentral bus station to take a bus to Singapore, where she worked as a cleaner, when the incident happened.

The incident caused a traffic jam as motorists slowed down to catch a glimpse of what had happened.
Police forensic personnel were seen collecting evidence at the scene.

Earlier, Johor police chief Datuk Mokhtar Shariff said police were trying to ascertain if the incident was a snatch theft case because,

"The victim's belongings were intact and there are reasonable doubts as the victim was said to have a history of breathing difficulties and asthma," he said.

"There is a possibility that Alamelu died of cardiopulmonary arrest or in layman's term, a heart attack."

******

Johor police chief Datuk Mokhtar Shariff, in confirming the 14 men's arrests said:

"The order has been out to all district police chiefs to aggressively monitor various areas in the state to curb and prevent snatch thefts."

"All police districts will deploy their regular police patrol, plainclothes crime prevention teams, motorcycle Ninja squads and also mobile police vehicles to actively monitor urban roads and residential areas."

Traffic police personnel will assist in the efforts by concentrating their policing on the roads during peak hours in the morning and evenings.

Police had mounted roadblocks in several high density stretches in the Tampoi area where the incident took place.

Jalan Skudai saw minor traffic congestion as police personnel screened motorcyclists.

Snatch theft gangs were rampant along the stretch between 5.45am and 7.30am, targetting the thousands of motorcyclists heading for their workplace in Singapore.

****** ****** ****** 

Enforcement Lacking In Johor Baru

I REFER to the report ‘Shahrir chides blogger over ‘sin city’ JB, (The Star, April 27).
The United States based Malaysian blogger Dr Azly Rahman seems better informed than our own Member of Parliament!
Elected persons should walk with the common folk to gauge the problems in the city.
Sitting in five-star hotels and coffeehouses will not help! It is a different plain altogether.
A mere walk along the backlane between Jalan Wong Ah Fook and Meldrum in the evening will lend support to Dr Azly’s views.
The backlane in the city centre where hawkers ply their trade is infested with overfed rats and cockroaches and the manholes are not covered and pose a danger to pedestrians, especially senior citizens and children.
It seems reports have been made by hawkers but no action taken.
And for a gateway city to have such despicable backlanes is a shame.
The other evening as I sat dining at the Peking Restaurant in Sentosa, a group of Singaporean diners paid their bill and went to the car park but soon came back exclaiming that their car had been stolen!
Claims by authorities that the crime rate has fallen may be an incorrect assertion. It may be correct to say that reports of crime has fallen because victims don’t report cases as they feel nothing will come out of it.
In this country we have numerous laws and regulations but we are lackadaisical in our inspection and enforcement.
At times we are selective in what we do.
S. BALARAJAH,
Johor Baru.

Source: The Star - Friday, April 29, 2011 

******

Proactive Measures Need To Be Taken

I REFER to “Enforcement lacking in Johor Baru” and "Students at mercy of snatch thieves" (The Star, April 29).
Instead of taking action to tackle the problems highlighted by the public, the authorities chose to remain in a state of denial, either by publishing statistics that paint a rosy picture or by dismissing public complaints as baseless.
The authorities need to keep in mind it is their responsibility to change negative perceptions that locals or foreigners have towards the cities. This task cannot be accomplished by mere words without substantial actions.
Proactive measures need to be taken to curb crime and to improve the physical amenities.
The intended outcome would be having the residents wholeheartedly agreeing with the authorities that their cities are a great place to live in.
WANG SU MEI,
Kuala Lumpur.

Source: The Star - Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Crime Story - Their Darkest Hours

Her facial expression revealed the excruciating pain she's bearing.
I asked her why?
She said she was locking the door to her flat when came a young man from nowhere, knocking her head with a motorcycle helmet and grabbed her handbag.
He walked away along the dark corridor...

The lights were all there.
So, was the then-flat in the middle of JB town took part in the 60-minutes 'Earth Hour'?
'Earth Hour' or not, the lights that's supposed to light-up corridors were simply not working since ages, as far as she could remember.

Fatmah, the single woman in her 50s I supposed, said, luck was still on her side as she was just about to put her house keys in her bag when one of  'the darkest episode' in her life took place.
Feeling dizzy with blood oozing out from the back of her head, she scrambled, unlocking her house, and rested in her house with more fear she felt than the excruciating pain she endured - her head injury needed 6 stitches.

She made a police report.
To her surprise, the police officer was not convinced with her story - Even with the stitches on the rear of her head as prove.
Reason?
No witness to verify her story...

******

We were on our way to Gazebo, our usual dinner place when, from far, a girl was seen having a 'misunderstanding' with his boyfriend - the boy was on motorbike.

The scene was outside one of the gated terrace-houses in Taman Suria, about 500 metres from Giant Supermarket.
The dark, quiet lanes that enveloped the neighbourhood made me think that the girl was outside her house, meeting her boyfriend, without her parents' knowledge - but as we travelled nearer to them, there's not one, but two boys on the bike.

The pillon-rider was pulling away the girl's sling-bag from her and she struggled hard to save it.
Alas, the sling snapped and the boys sped away with their prey, the girl's sling-bag.
I tried to memorise the number on their licence-plate, but the bike was without lights. They knew we gave chase as we gave signal to another bike-rider about the snatch-theft, but as we approached Larkin Perdana, there's red light ahead.
Our chase stopped there as the thieves raced across the red-light.

******

Plunged into darkness or broad daylight, brave individuals put their 'wave of hope and action' into full practice.

It was about 5pm when outside the then temporary police station at Christine Place, traffic was understandably slow as thousands of workers were heading home from their day job across the Causeway.

In the midst of the chaotic road, I thought a drama or film-shooting was taking place.
A Chinese man was asked to alight from his motorcycle, stranding the motorcycle at the roadside. He was bundled into a car by 2 men - vehicles were redirected to the first and second lane.
The car was on the third lane. It was heading towards the flyover - and we trailed behind the car as we were on our way west of town.
Once the car was on the flyover, it turned left, and zoomed away...

My Husband and I realised, we were the only two other souls, beside the men in the car that were on the deserted flyover.
A real-life kidnap drama had taken place in broad day-light, amidst the busy road, just outside...

******

As cities, towns and countries worldwide plunged into darkness to bring awareness and meaningful action of changes, what is darkness to these people and many others?
Although the cause may differ, these people, and many others, hope rays of light may shine, sincerity and responsiblity will be held high.