KUALA LUMPUR: Three suspected robbers were shot dead near Block C of the Highland Towers apartment, while three others managed to flee when police busted their hideout in a pre-dawn operation today.

Selangor Criminal Investigation chief Datuk Mohd Adnan Abdullah said at police acted on a tip-off that the group had planned for a heist in Ampang.

“We conducted surveillance and found their hideout. At about 5am, police raided a room located at the first floor (of Block C).

“Upon seeing the police, the six men in the room attempted to escape to a forest nearby, and attacked the raiding team with parangs, sickle and a weapon believed to be air gun.

“Police had to fire several shots and hit three of the men,” he told reporters at the scene today. The suspects in their 30s were pronounced dead by the medical team at 6.30am.

Adnan said three others managed to escape.

“Police had deployed a team to hunt them down and have called the General Operations Force to assist,” he said. Adnan said the group was believed to be involved in several cases in Selangor.

“To date, 26 cases involving RM545,900 losses were reported with similar modus operandi,” he said, adding that the group had been active for at least two years. -nst