THE history of two rival gangs in Taman Tennamaram is well-known by residents who have lived in fear of its members.
But more recently, fed-up of the terrorism and rivalry that residents had to put up with, a petition was submitted to the police on the matter, asking for action to be taken against the terrible two.
Gang 08 was formed in the 80s and grew to its present size in the early 90s according to sources. The gang received street credibility when P. Kalimuthu, better knows as Bentong Kali, who was shot dead by police in 1994, joined the gang in 1984. The gang was then heavily involved in extortion, kidnapping and violence.
It was learnt that the gang got its name “Gang 08” because it used to collect payments in multiples of eight.
Last year, on Aug 8, 20 gang members, all students of a secondary school in Klang, organised a celebration. They had an 8kg cake in the form of the numbers zero and eight, and had the words “Villains SMK Raja Mahadi” on it.
The party was to be held in the school field but school authorities learnt of the gathering and alerted police, who increased patrols in the area.
At noon, the students slipped out of their classes and gathered at a secluded part of the field. Gang members outside the school passed the cake through the fence.
Soft drinks were served and as they were “partying”, teachers and Parent-Teacher Association members broke up the gathering. The number eight portion of the cake had already been eaten. Three gang members -- and what was left of the cake -- were handed over to police.
It is believed that there are 18 members in Gang 08 and three senior members monitor the group.
Another gang emerged in the mid 90swithin the neighbourhood, calling themselves Gang 21. It started after several gang members from different gangs had a fallout with their leaders and started Gang 21, probably reflecting the breaking away age of 'adulthood'.
This gang apparently targets shopkeepers and small businesses to extort money. They operate in small groups to avoid being detected by the authorities.
What followed was a fight for territory with innocent residents facing the brunt of the gangsters' terrorism.
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