Special task force against snatch thieves

KUALA LUMPUR: Snatch thieves may have met their match following the formation of a special task force for instant strikes against them in the city.
Just within two months of its formation, the team has solved 39 cases, City police chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim said.
"We want snatch thieves out there to know that the police will not give them any opportunity to strike at people in the city," he told reporters at the KL police headquarters here today.
The task force is headed by a deputy superintendent of police and comprises 32 other file and rank personnel.
"It is constantly watching you and your movements," Mazlan warned.
He said the task force recently initiated an operation dubbed "Op Rentap Khas" to eradicate street crimes.
"The operation, which was conducted from Jan 22 to Jan 31, saw 75 motorcycles and 90 individuals screened. In the operation, we picked up six wanted suspects and three snatch theft suspects aged between 20 and 25," he said.
Mazlan said police were able to solve 18 snatch theft cases involving foreign tourists in the Klang Valley with the trio's arrest.
He said before the operation was launched on Jan 22, there were 42 snatch theft cases recorded in the city.
"But this dropped to to just 31 from Jan 22-31, a decrease of 26.1%," he added.
Snatch thefts and cases of robbery without weapons in the city increased by more than 57% last year with a total of 1,010 cases compared to 640 cases in 2016.
"We will not hesitate to add more personnel to our task force and the team will ramp up its operations to conduct checks before, during and after the Chinese New Year festival," he stressed.
The task force busted a group of robbers within an hour after they struck in Kepong here on Jan 26.
Mazlan said four suspects from the gang called "Abang Fahmi" were arrested after robbing a victim of his gold necklace using a samurai sword.
"The team was on its crime prevention rounds in Chow Kit when they saw four men acting suspiciously near a pawnshop and that led police to detain them around 4.35pm.
"Police seized eight mobile phones, foreign currencies, a samurai sword and two motorcycles used during the incident. During interrogation, the suspects admitted they usually choose victims randomly and charge at them with the sword before threatening them to hand over their belongings.
"The suspects even had walkie-talkies for them to communicate in committing their crimes and the victims are usually 'soft targets' like senior citizens and female bystanders," he said.
The suspects are aged between 18 and 29 and with their arrests, police managed to solve 21 cases involving the gang.