Habitual criminal handed over to Bau police to assist in case

BAU: A habitual criminal who was recently arrested in Kuching has been handed over to police here in connection with the attempted break-in into a house belonging to a penghulu in Siniawan over two weeks ago.

District police chief DSP Mohd Sabri Zainol said the 40something suspect was caught a few days ago by personnel from state police headquarters and had since been linked to the incident here which occurred on May 29.

“We believe the suspect is responsible for the attempted break-in at the penghulu’s house.

“He had showed up shortly after the penghulu left the house in the afternoon and used a machete to cut open the gate.

“Unknown to him, the penghulu’s son was at home at the time and he immediately confronted the suspect, resulting in a struggle between them, before the latter managed to escape,” said Mohd Sabri.

He also revealed that the suspect was a habitual criminal who had been arrested umpteen times for housebreaking and vehicle theft.

“Despite having been arrested and jailed a number of times, he has never learnt his lesson and keeps returning to his old ways upon being released.”

A Volvo car and a machete recovered during the suspect’s arrest has also been handed over to Bau police as it was believed the vehicle and the weapon were used during the commission of the crime at the penghulu’s house.

On a separate matter, Mohd Sabri urged owners of air rifles in the district to surrender such weapons to the police due to their illegality and obvious danger posed to others.

He said police had recently arrested two persons, including a teenage boy, following a complaint that they were discharging an air rif le near a chicken farm at Kampung Keranji here.

“Acting on a public tip- off, a police team went to the farm around 10.30pm on Wednesday and found two suspects, aged 15 and 26, in possession of an air rifle.

“Both were questioned and later arrested after they admitted to discharging the weapon,” he said, adding the duo has been remanded pending further investigation.