JOHOR BAHRU: A 38-year-old journalist from a news portal experienced anxious moments when she was robbed by two men armed with machetes in a restaurant in Taman Molek last night.
Ernalisa Othman said the incident occurred at around 9.45pm when she was sitting at a table outside the restaurant and noticed two suspicious looking men on a motorcycle approaching the premise.
She said the two men had parked the motorcycle in front of the restaurant and approached her from the front.
“I panicked a little. They came from the front, wearing helmets and face masks, and stood next to me. At this point, I had just pulled out my laptop on the table to start working. Then they grabbed my bag, which contained a mobile phone and a laptop. I tried to stop them, but one of them waved a machete in front of my face and said: ‘Do you want it or not?
“At that moment, God only knows how I felt when the machete was held in front of my face,“ she said when contacted.
Ernalisa said that her mobile phone then fell out from the bag while it was being taken.
“I immediately grabbed my mobile phone and rain into the restaurant, while the two men fled,“ she said.
The motorcyclist was dark-skinned, thin, and tall, and looked unkempt, while the pillion rider was well-dressed, had a dark complexion, was somewhat stocky, and they appeared to be in their 30s and appeared to be locals. I noticed that the motorcycle they were riding did not have a number plate,“ she said.
Ernalisa, who has been working as a journalist for 10 years now, said she suffered losses amounting to RM5,000.
Meanwhile, Seri Alam police chief Superintendent Sohaimi Ishak said they have received a report about the incident and the case is being investigated under Section 395/397 of the Penal Code for armed robbery.
“Police are also on the lookout for the suspects,” he said. -Bernama
