Sabah crime index down 2.39%

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah crime index from January to Nov 30 this year has dropped by 2.39 per cent to 5,597 cases compared to the 5,734 recorded for the same period last year.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah said of the total number this year, 3,503 cases or 62.59 per cent were solved.

“The achievement far exceeds the target set by the top brass, which was 45 per cent,” he said during his speech at the Sabah Police Contingent monthly gathering here yesterday.

In another development, Omar said Sabah police have remanded two women to assist in investigations into a case where 71 people lost about RM162,285 to a syndicate fraudulently selling cheap flight tickets.

The women, aged between 33 and 37, were arrested in the Kota Kinabalu area between Nov 25 and 26 after police received the first report from one of the victims on Nov 23.

He said the victim lodged a report after failing to get the flight tickets despite paying RM6,000 to an account provided by the syndicate.

Omar said the syndicate had been active since August and its modus operandi was to promote the sale of cheap flight tickets on social media, like Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram, as well as to offer rewards of between RM50 and RM150 to those who introduced new clients.

“Don’t trust so easily or be duped by cheap offers...buy flight tickets from the right companies,” advised Omar. The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. - Bernama