Cops nab Indonesians suspected of robbery by hypnosis
BINTULU: Police arrested two Indonesian men on Wednesday for their suspected involvement in robbery cases by hypnosis.
A team from the Bintulu Commercial Crime Investigation Department detained the suspects, aged 46 and 57, from Singkawang in front of a supermarket at the town centre around 9.30am.
The men are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Bintulu police chief Supt Zailanni Amit said during the interrogation, the suspects confessed to hypnotising a local man and robbing him of RM5,000 at the Bintulu Bus Terminal in Medan Jaya on April 3.
In his report, the victim said he went to the bus terminal to purchase a ticket to go back to Lubok Antu to meet his family.
He was then approached by two Indonesian men, who offered something for sale wrapped in a yellow cloth.
The victim claimed he somehow became hypnotised after touching the item and was not aware when the suspects took his bag pack, which contained the RM5,000.
The victim only snapped out of the trance-like state and realised he had been duped a few seconds after the suspects fled the scene.
In another case, a woman lost RM2,500 worth of jewellery after she was supposedly hypnotised by two local men on April 2.
She was earlier approached by a local woman at Pasar Tamu, who offered to carry her vegetables and then brought her into a car.
Two local men in the car told the victim they would help her to get eKasih aid, but she had to give them all her jewellery and handbag.
The victim was then taken to a building where she was told she needed to take a photo for the application.
When the victim stepped out from the car, she was left dazed and on her own.