TANJUNG MALIM, Dec 13 — Two armed criminals, believed to have a long list of previous criminal record, were shot dead by police, during a high-speed car chase and shoot-out at the Proton City exit heading to Tanjung Malim early yesterday.
The duo are expected to be heading to an undisclosed destination to carry out a robbery.
Perak Acting Police Chief Deputy Commissioner Zulkafli Sariaat said a team of police officers from the Perak Police Headquarters (IPK) were patrolling the area under Op Casa Muallim when they came across a suspicious looking Proton Persona car at the location at 5.20am.
Police closed in on the car and ordered the driver to stop for inspection but the driver sped off, forcing police to give chase over a distance of about 4km before the car veered off the road.
As soon as the car came to a halt, one of the suspect fired a shot at the police car, hitting the vehicle’s light.
“One suspect came out of the car and fired another shot at the police team while another suspect came running towards the police with a machete. Police had no choice but to return fire in an attempt to defend themselves,” said Zulkafli at the district police headquarters in Muallim, here yesterday.
Police later conducted an inspection and found that the driver and the front passenger, aged 29 and 37 respectively, had died from gunfire.
Zulkafli added that after further investigations, a Sig Sauer pistol with a bullet in it as well as six bullet casings, two machete blades, a fake vehicle plate and an metal cutter in the car believed to be used to commit crimes.
“Checks found that the 29-year-old suspect has 20 past records related to crime and drugs while his friend has three criminal records and has been actively committing crimes since early 2023.
“The case is being investigated under Section 307 of the Penal Code and Section 8 of the Firearms Act 1971 and Section 8 of the Arms Act 1960 as well as efforts to trace the remaining network of the suspect’s accomplices are being actively carried out,” he said.
He said, following the incident, police managed to solve 20 cases of gang robbery and 10 cases of house break ins in Tanjung Malim, Behrang and Slim River. — Bernama
