JEWELLERY STORE HEIST: RM20,000 DEBT PUSHED AUXILIARY COP TO BRINK - SELANGOR POLICE

SHAH ALAM, March 24 (Bernama) -- The pressure of debt forced an auxiliary cop to turn to crime when he robbed a jewellery shop at a mall in Kota Damansara on Saturday (March 22).

Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said based on interrogation of the suspect, an auxiliary policeman at a utility company in Selangor, he was burdened with a debt of RM20,000 that needed repayment.

"Investigations also found that the suspect had been working as an auxiliary police officer for almost eight years. On the day of the incident he was scheduled to work at night and having the password and access had taken out a gun from his company's armoury on the morning of the robbery.

"The suspect then used the weapon to commit the crime before returning it.  We will call his supervisor and colleagues to record statements on this matter," he told a press conference at the Selangor police contingent headquarters here today.

Hussein said investigations also found that the crime was believed to have been committed alone without accomplices based on closed-circuit camera recordings which showed the suspect conducting a surveillance at noon before staging the armed robbery in the afternoon.

He said that in the 10-minute robbery, the suspect had brandished a gun before fleeing with seven trays of jewellery and cash belonging to a customer.

Hussein said checks on the suspect, who is 32 years old and married for four years, showed no past records and the incident was believed to be his first criminal act.

"The suspect's wife lives in a state on the east coast and we thought he might flee there.

"(However) When arrested here, the suspect was preparing for the night shift and police managed to find 81 gold chains, an auxiliary police credential card, a backpack, house keys, a sling bag, car keys and RM1,800 in cash," he said.

The suspect is on from today until March 29 with the case being investigated under Section 4 of the Firearms (Heavier Penalties) Act 1971.

Yesterday, Hussein confirmed that the gunman who robbed the jewellery store was arrested within 12 hours of the crime.

The suspect allegedly stole seven trays of jewellery that were on display before fleeing in a car parked outside the mall with an estimated loot of RM2 million.

-- BERNAMA