KUALA LUMPUR: Five suspected members of the Vinod 08 gang stole a Mitsubishi Triton near Jinjang, sparking off a high-speed chase by police in the wee hours of the morning.
They rammed one of the patrol cars off the road in an attempt to evade capture, but this did not deter the police, who recovered the pick-up truck three hours later and caught three of the suspects.
When contacted, Gombak OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Rahim Abdullah said they were alerted following the theft of the vehicle at around 1.40am yesterday.
“A patrol car located the truck near Plaza Umno at Batu Caves and the policemen called for back-up. Six cars were sent to the scene.
“Police tried to stop the truck but it sped off.
“We followed the truck until the Latar Highway exit near Rawang where one of the suspects fired a shot at police but missed.
“The chase headed towards Jalan Ipoh where the suspects rammed one of the patrol cars off the road,” he said, adding that the men escaped.
ACP Abdul Rahim said that in a follow-up operation at 4.19am, police swooped on three of the suspects, aged between 22 and 26, near Taman Pinggiran Batu Caves.
“We seized a fake gun, and several ATM and credit cards which did not belong to them,” he said, adding that one of the men then led police to the truck parked at an apartment within the same area.
ACP Abdul Rahim said police were looking for two men – Sathiyanathan a/l Sergran, 21, and Lachumanan a/l Rajendran @ Murali, 27, to help in investigations.
ACP Abdul Rahim said police believe the suspects were connected to the three men who were arrested after they rammed through a Road Transport Department roadblock along the MRR2 recently.
In that case on Aug 7, police nabbed two men, aged 20 and 22, after a high-speed chase along the MRR2 near Batu Caves.
The hunt is on for the third man who escaped into the nearby jungle.
The Vinod 08 gang is said to be embroiled in a turf war with the Anand 36 and 04 gangs.
– THE STAR
