PENANG, March 7 (Bernama) -- Five armed men, believed to be Vietnamese who had staged a robbery, were shot dead in a shootout with the police at Km15.7 of the Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE) here early today.
State police chief Datuk Wira Ayub Yaakob said they were among eight men suspected to have robbed 11 Vietnamese at a hostel in Taman Perak, Kulim, in Kedah and were making their getaway to Seberang Jaya in two cars.
The five, in a silver Perodua Kenari car, were stopped by a police team along the BKE at 3.10am but they starting firing at the police, their shots hitting the rear windscreen of the police patrol car, he said.
"The policemen, in defence, fired several shots at the car and killed the five men in it," he told reporters after flagging off a community and Rakan Cop treasure hunt at the Penang police headquarters, here.
Ayub said a team of five policemen on duty, acting on a tip-off from their counterparts in Kulim, had bumped into the robbers at the Penanti rest and recreation area but they sped off on seeing the police.
However, he said, another police team managed to stop the car at Km15.7 of the BKE.
"A pistol, a live bullet, two ski masks, 11 machetes, a metal cutter and a crowbar were found in the car which had false registration plates," he said.
Preliminary investigation showed that the car was reported missing on Oct 20 last year, he added.
Ayub said the bodies of the five men were sent to the Seberang Jaya Hospital.
He also said that Penang police would help their counterparts in Kulim to track down the three other men who had escaped in another car.
Ayub said the state police had launched a special operation code-named "Ops Rantau" to monitor criminal cases involving foreigners, especially Vietnamese, who might have lost their jobs due to cost-cutting by factories due to the economic downturn.
State police chief Datuk Wira Ayub Yaakob said they were among eight men suspected to have robbed 11 Vietnamese at a hostel in Taman Perak, Kulim, in Kedah and were making their getaway to Seberang Jaya in two cars.
The five, in a silver Perodua Kenari car, were stopped by a police team along the BKE at 3.10am but they starting firing at the police, their shots hitting the rear windscreen of the police patrol car, he said.
"The policemen, in defence, fired several shots at the car and killed the five men in it," he told reporters after flagging off a community and Rakan Cop treasure hunt at the Penang police headquarters, here.
Ayub said a team of five policemen on duty, acting on a tip-off from their counterparts in Kulim, had bumped into the robbers at the Penanti rest and recreation area but they sped off on seeing the police.
However, he said, another police team managed to stop the car at Km15.7 of the BKE.
"A pistol, a live bullet, two ski masks, 11 machetes, a metal cutter and a crowbar were found in the car which had false registration plates," he said.
Preliminary investigation showed that the car was reported missing on Oct 20 last year, he added.
Ayub said the bodies of the five men were sent to the Seberang Jaya Hospital.
He also said that Penang police would help their counterparts in Kulim to track down the three other men who had escaped in another car.
Ayub said the state police had launched a special operation code-named "Ops Rantau" to monitor criminal cases involving foreigners, especially Vietnamese, who might have lost their jobs due to cost-cutting by factories due to the economic downturn.
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