Police gun down suspected criminal in Dengkil shootout

KUALA LUMPUR - A suspected criminal was shot dead during a shootout with police at the roadside of Batu 8, Jalan Banting-Dengkil, Dengkil, near here last night.

Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Datuk M. Kumar said the incident occurred at about 8.10pm when a team from the Serious Crimes Division (D9), patrolling areas around Banting, Dengkil and Sepang near here, detected a silver Perodua Myvi driven by a man behaving suspiciously.

"When the team tried to stop the vehicle, the suspect suddenly opened fire from inside the vehicle at the police team. Our men returned fire until the threat was neutralised,” he said in a statement today.

Kumar said the suspect was confirmed dead by a medical team at the scene and police could not find any identification documents on the man.

"Upon inspecting the suspect's vehicle, police found a Colt 45 firearm, three bullets and seven transparent plastic packets suspected to contain drugs,” he said, adding that investigations are ongoing.

Meanwhile, police said the suspect shot dead was believed to be a member of a robbery gang.

Kumar said the suspect, aged 30, had 10 criminal records, including robbery, causing injury, house break-ins and rioting.

"The suspect was also wanted for two robbery cases involving warehouses (project site) in Sepang last year," he told a media conference in Sepang near here today, which was also attended by Sepang police chief ACP Norhizam Bahaman.

He also clarified that upon further inspection of the suspect and the vehicle he drove, police found a Remington Rand.45 firearm, three bullets and seven transparent plastic packets containing crystal powder believed to be syabu weighing 132 grammes.

Kumar believes that the suspect was one of the leaders of the robbery gang, consisting of about 10 accomplices.

He said the gang would target residential homes, project sites or e-waste factories and would arm themselves with pistols, machetes and iron rods when committing the offences.

He added that they would usually deactivate the closed-circuit television camera decoder, wear face masks and gloves and had no qualms about injuring their victims.

"This group, active since 2022, has been responsible for 19 cases - 17 in Selangor and one each in Negeri Sembilan and Melaka.

"From 2022 until October this year, with the estimated total losses from these incidents amounting to RM2.53 million," he said.

Kumar said police have identified the remaining members of the group and efforts to track them down is ongoing.

He added that the case is being investigated under Section 307 of the Penal Code, Section 3 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, Section 8 of the Arms Act 1960 and Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. - BERNAMA