Group condemns brazen rescue by armed men

KAJANG: A public safety group has decried the brazen rescue by armed men who stormed a house which was being raided by enforcement officers here.

Malaysians Against Rape, Assault and Snatch (Marah) founder Dave Avran said the attack only proved that the newly tabled amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) were much needed to cripple these syndicates.

He said the incident also showed the need for tougher punishment.

“These criminals have no respect for the law. These crooks need to be taken down a notch,” he said yesterday.

He was commenting on the incident, which occurred at around 2.30pm on Wednesday, when a team from the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry was raiding a double-storey house in Kajang.

The house was allegedly used as a transit, packing and distributing centre for a syndicate supplying illegal DVDs to traders at night markets and shops nearby.

The officers had arrested six people inside the house. However, minutes later, seven men armed with machetes and samurai swords rushed inside to rescue their accomplices.

The group then escaped in three cars. But one of the cars was involved in a collision and the four men inside it were nabbed. The men in the other cars escaped.

The ministry’s task force unit chief Fahmi Kasim said his officers seized about 7,000 illegal DVDs worth about RM70,000 and four cars during the raid.