KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 — A 26-year-old male suspect in the vicious assault and robbery of a woman in a lift at the Taman Mutiara MRT Station has been arrested, City police chief Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim confirmed tonight.

The suspect was arrested in Taman Cheras here at 8.10pm by a Serious Crimes Investigation Department (D9) team from the Cheras district police headquarters.

The case is being investigated under Section 394 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt in a robbery, which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years, fine and whipping upon conviction.

Earlier today, Mazlan told reporters that they had identified the suspect, who is a local, and that he had robbed a 24-hour convenience store near the MRT station at about 6.30am, some 15 minutes before robbing the victim in the lift last Thursday.

A 57-second closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera recording of the incident has gone viral.

The clip shows the man following the 48-year-old woman into the lift and unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks before running away with her belongings.

The victim suffered injuries to several parts of her body and swelling on her forehead.

Shocked by the incident, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng offered a bounty of RM10,000 for any information which could help authorities nab the robber.

It is not immediately known if anyone has claimed the bounty.

Meanwhile, Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (Prasarana) in a statement today said recordings inside lifts are now displayed directly to staff on duty as an extra precautionary measure following the robbery.

It said the images were pre-set on the main screen so that any incident could be viewed and known faster.

In addition, the company said it has increased the number of Special Action Taskforce (SAT) members at hotspot areas.

The SAT team is a special unit set up by Prasarana’s security department, with staff dressed in plainclothes when on patrol duty.