GEORGE TOWN: Police today shot dead in a shootout here five members of a triad gang believed to be also hired killers wanted for murders and attempted murders in three states, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
Malaysian police said they killed five suspected gang members in a shootout early Monday and arrested 200 people in a crackdown on a spate of violent crime that has shocked the country.
Police launched the nationwide anti-crime push Saturday following a growing public outcry over lawlessness that for the past month has seen near-daily shootings and other violence.
"Since Saturday, we set up operations centres and targeted operations to probe the suspects, secret societies' nests and suspected drug traffickers," he was quoted by news portal Malaysiakini as saying.
Police launched the nationwide anti-crime push Saturday following a growing public outcry over lawlessness that for the past month has seen near-daily shootings and other violence.
"Since Saturday, we set up operations centres and targeted operations to probe the suspects, secret societies' nests and suspected drug traffickers," he was quoted by news portal Malaysiakini as saying.
He said police believed one of the dead men was the leader of the gang and they were tracking down the remaining members of the gang which had committed the crimes in Penang, Kedah and Negri Sembilan.
The five shot dead are: J Gobinath-31, R. Ramesh -27, N. Rakan-25, M. Suresh 25, M. Gobinath -21.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSJd51mgPI4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSJd51mgPI4
The five men were shot dead in an apartment in Sungai Nibong, at 4.30 am during a shootout with a raiding police team from the D9 Special Investigation Division of the Penang CID with the assistance of the Bukit Aman D9 and Kedah D9 divisions.
Police recovered three guns from the dead men, namely a silver Norinco, a silver .38 revolver and a black Walther PPK.
Khalid said that from an examination of the firearms seized in the operation, police were able to solve 10 cases of murder and two cases of attempted murder in the three states.
Seven of the 10 murders and two attempted murder cases occurred in Penang. Two of the murders occurred in Kedah and one in Negri Sembilan. All the cases took place over the past year, with the latest in Penang," he told a news conference at the Penang Police headquarters, here.
Khalid said police were tracking down several other members of the gang believed to have been involved in the murders and shootings.
"Preliminary investigation indicates that one of the five shot dead today was the leader of the gang. The gang moved about on the orders of the leader and based on its targeted victims.
"It does not stay in any one place for long so as to avoid detection by the police," he said.
The shootout occurred at around 5 am on Monday, at an apartment.
The five men in their 20s were believed to be members of the notorious "Geng 04", wanted in connection with 12 shooting cases, including seven murder cases in Penang.
Police had been monitoring their activities before moving in on Monday.
They said they opened fire after the suspects shot from inside the apartment when they knocked on the door.
Khalid said police had been monitoring the gang for several months and had set up a special team to investigate all the murder and shooting cases.
"The investigation and intelligence gathered resulted in today's success," he said.
Replying to a question, Khalid said the gang members offered themselves for hire to kill or shoot but they had also killed and shot people out of vengeance and other motives.
He also said that four of the five men had several previous criminal records. --
It was a case of mistaken identity when one of the five shot dead by police at an apartment in Sungai Nibong yesterday had the identity card of his friend.
N Rakan, 25, was having the identity card of A Vinuvt 23, when he was shot dead at the apartment at 4.30am on Monday.
The legal counsel for the bereaving families, RSN Rayer, confirmed that the wife and mother had identified Rakan’s body at the mortuary in Penang Hospital last night.
The other four dead were J Gobinath, 31, R Ramesh, 27, M Suresh, 25, and M Gobinath 21.
Rayer said Rakan’s wife had told her husband to return Vinuvt’s identity card a few days ago.
She does not know the reason why her husband was having Vinuvt’s identity card.
Vinuvt’s family was at the mortuary last night to collect his identity card but the police had turned them away.
Rayer said the police would return the identity card only after they had questioned Vinuvt to help in investigations.
BERNAMA & FMT
