IPOH: Police have shot dead one of the masterminds behind a gold-in-transit syndicate on Jalan Slim Lama, Tanjung Malim, early today.
Perak police chief Datuk Azizi Mat Aris said that the Muallim District Control Centre received information about a shootout between a criminal and the police at 3.10am today.
"While conducting patrols and intelligence work, police spotted a man speeding in a Nissan Almera with a fake plate number along Jalan Slim.
"Police instructed the 43-year-old man to stop his car, but he continued to speed up and fired several shots at the police car.
"In self-defense, police returned fire that hit the suspect. The man died on the spot, as confirmed by a medical assistant from the Tanjung Malim Health Clinic," he said at a press conference at the state police headquarters today.
Azizi said further checks revealed that the man, from Klang, Selangor, had previous criminal records involving gang robbery, voluntarily causing hurt, and cheating.
"Upon searching the car, police seized an Sig Sauer pistol, one magazine, six bullets, three bottles containing pistol slugs and two parangs.
"In the shootout, one police patrol car was hit by bullets at the left rear passenger door," he said, adding that no policemen were injured during the incident.
Azizi added that background checks indicated the suspect was part of a criminal group targeting gold in transit and was one of its
masterminds.
"Checks reveal that this group has been involved in at least 25 gold robbery cases in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, Johor, Negri Sembilan and Perak since 2018.
"The total estimated loss from these 25 cases is valued at RM34.2 million," he said.
Azizi said that in the latest incident, the suspect was involved in a gold supplier robbery in Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur, on Aug 27, this year.
"The incident resulted in the loss of 4.5 kg of gold, estimated to be worth RM1.485 million," he said, adding that police are also tracking the remaining members of this group to prevent further criminal incidents.