Gang member caught; hijacked lorry recovered

[Smallee]

Source: http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=21116

Saturday, July 7th, 2007

Gang member caught; hijacked lorry recovered

MIRI: Miri police arrested a member of a gang that hijacked a lorry carrying supplies of food and drinks at Lapok, Tinjar early yesterday.

Its leader known as ‘Ah Ho’ and eight other gang members escaped the ambush set up by a team of highway patrol police vehicle unit (HMPV) and Batu Niah police, led by Inspector Ahmad Abang.

The drama unfolded at 1pm when 10 gangsters stopped a lorry sending a consignment of food and drinks to the Baram.

The group demanded RM18,000 from the lorry driver otherwise his life would be in danger. But the fast-thinking driver escaped the scene by hitching a lift from a passing vehicle. He lodged a report on the incident at Batu Niah police station.

Police acted quickly to ambush the group of hijackers. A 48-year-old suspect was arrested by the police raiding party near Lapok Bazaar at about 12.30am, while nine others including the gang leader fled the scene.

Police later recovered the hijacked lorry near Lapok Bazaar. It contained food items while 55 crates of beer unloaded from it by the hijackers were found inside a shoplot.

Miri police chief ACP Abang Abdillah Abang Othman when contacted confirmed the case and praised his men for their fast action in combating gangsterism activities in the Baram.

Abang Abdillah said the hijacked lorry was carrying foods and drinks destined for Long Lama.

A team of police from HMPV and Batu Niah police rushed to the scene that night and stayed until early morning to catch the culprits, he revealed.

“This is the group believed to be involved in a series of hijackings at roads in the interior of central Baram,” Abang Abdillah told The Borneo Post when contacted by phone yesterday.

The police chief said the group’s modus operandi within the vastness of the Baram was to hijack lorries carrying goods, food supplies or commodities.

The suspect is being kept at Beluru police station and will be referred to Marudi police station for further investigations. The lorry recovered is also kept at Beluru police station.

Abang said no weapons were found at the scene.

Six identity cards, believed to belong to the culprits, were found inside a bag during the chase.

Miri police are on a hunt for the remaining group as they already know their identities