TEMERLOH: A 40-year-old man with 13 criminal records was detained for allegedly stealing telecommunication cables at Taman Bentong Makmur in Bentong yesterday, hours after he committed a similar act along with six others in Mentakab here.
A viral video showed the suspects stealing the cables in Taman Keramat Mentakab in Temerloh at about 2.45am on Nov 3. They fled upon realising a house owner was recording their activities.
Temerloh police chief Assistant Commissioner Mazlan Hassan said police nabbed a suspect at about 4.40pm in Bentong. The man has a long track record of criminal and drug-related offences.
The other three people fled the scene after their Toyota Wish crashed into a drain.
"The Bentong police headquarters received a call from a member of the public informing them they spotted several men in two vehicles acting suspiciously near the Bentong Makmur main junction. The suspects were believed to be attempting to pull cables out from a manhole.
"Upon realising the presence of policemen, the suspects who were attempting to escape crashed their multi-purpose vehicle into a drain at the housing estate. One of the suspects was arrested while three others managed to flee on foot," he said in a statement.
Mazlan said police seized several items from the car including 153 cable wire pieces and wire cutting tools.
He said the case is being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code for suspected cable theft and police were tracking down the other suspects.
In the Nov 3 incident at Taman Keramat Mentakab, several suspects were captured in a video trying to steal communication cables from a manhole.
Mazlan said the incident unfolded when a 27-year-old man heard a loud noise in front of his house and upon inspecting, he spotted two cars along with a group of men trying to pull a communication cable from a manhole.
"The house owner claimed there were about seven men on the main road and when he rebuked them, one of the suspects threw a plastic bottle towards him. The man who was standing inside his house compound managed to record the suspects.
"One of the suspects was seen pulling the cable from the manhole before securing it to a Toyota Wish and driving away. Both the vehicles were using fake registration plates," he said.
The viral one-minute-and-40-second video showed the suspects unperturbed by the house owner's presence and continued to pull the communication video from the manhole before leaving the neighbourhood with the stolen cable.