KAJANG: Police shot dead four suspected robbers at the Sekamat River near the Sungai Long Toll Plaza at the Kajang Silk Highway, this morning.
The 6.15am incident happened a few hours after the suspects, together with another accomplice still on the loose, broke into a house in Taman Saujana Impian a few kilometres away.
Selangor police chief Datuk Abdul Samah Mat said police were notified about the group's attempted robbery when the victim's house alarm was triggered at 3.15am.
"Initial investigations revealed that the suspects, five of them, fled the house when its alarm was triggered.
"Following this, a team from thr Selangor police Criminal Investigation Department's Serious Crime Division was dispatched to investigate and hunt for the suspects.
"The team tracked the suspects' to a forested area near the housing area and followed their trail along Sekamat River," he said.
At about 6.15am, the team spotted the suspects, who were armed with parang, running along the river bank.
The location was adjacent to the Kajang Silk Highway, near the Sungai Long Toll Plaza here.
Abdul Samah said the team trained their weapons to the suspects and ordered the men to surrender.
However, in a desperate attempt to evade arrest, the suspects charged towards the policemen.
"The team had no choice but to open fire, killing four of them on the spot.
"Checks revealed that the fifth suspect managed to run away, and we believe that he had sustained gunshot injuries based on a trail of blood found."
He said a manhunt has been launched to track down the fifth suspect.
This includes the deployment of a team from the General Operations Force.
Abdul Samah said police seized several parang from the scene.
He said police believed that the suspects, aged between 20 and 30, are members of the Rantau Gang, which was notorious for house break-in activities in the Kajang area, and that the jungle area was their frequent getaway route.
The gang's modus operandi, he said, was to break into a house during the wee house before tying up their victims and robbing them off their valuables.
Between Jan 1 and today, there were 19 robbery cases and five attempted robberies using the same MO, were reported in Kajang alone.