Police end robbery spree with arrest of three

KUCHING: After a twoday spree robbing convenience stores, the two armed men were nabbed at a homestay in Kota Sentosa near here.

Aged 24 and 26, they were arrested by police while in their room on Tuesday. A 19yearold woman who was with them was also detained.

Police said the men, wearing fullface helmets, entered a 24hour convenience store in Kota Sentosa at about 3am on Monday and forced the shop assistant to hand over RM600 from the cash register.

One was brandishing a samurai sword while the other was armed with a stick. Both then fled in a car.

Then they struck another 24hour convenience shop, this time in Kota Samarahan, at about 4am the next day. They got away with RM835 and several cartons of cigarettes.

An hour later, they robbed a convenience shop in Stutong of cash and cigarettes amounting to RM1,500.

At about 12.30pm the same day, the robbers knocked down a motorcyclist on the KuchingSamarahan Expressway with their car.

One of the them alighted and pointed a sword at the 18yearold rider who had fallen off his machine and injured his knees.

“The robber took the victim’s mobile phone, wallet and RM16,” said Sarawak CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Dev Kumar.

He said a team was sent to find and arrest the culprits, who were tracked to the homestay, shortly after the motorcyclist lodged a report.

The men later led policemen to a car parked in front of a shoplot, not far from the homestay.

Police said the vehicle had been reported stolen in Stutong.

Inside the vehicle, they found a samurai sword, a stick, two helmets, two pairs of gloves, cigarettes, lighters, mobile phones and an amount of cash.

SAC Dev said the woman was in the car with the men when the crimes were committed. — Bernama