Two break-in victims in a bind after burglar dies

KUALA LUMPUR: A man and his housemate are in hot soup after a burglar they caught stealing at their house in Desa Rejang, Wangsa Maju today died minutes after being held.
The suspect had earlier broken into the double-storey house and was ransacking the place when the technologist, who is attached to a company nearby, decided to return home during his lunch break at 12.30pm.
Kuala Lumpur police deputy CID chief ACP Khairi Ahrasa said today that the man became suspicious when he saw that the main door of his house was ajar and there was a pair of slippers at the entrance.
He cautiously stepped in and found the burglar hiding behind his refrigerator.
He said the victim approached the suspect, who tried to escape, and a struggle ensured when the man tried to overpower the burglar.
Khairi said although the victim suffered hand injury, he managed to pin the suspect to the ground and shouted for help.
He said the victim's housemate, who was upstairs, heard his cries for help and rushed to his aid. The men bound the suspect's limbs with rope before calling the police.
Khairi said the burglar, who had taken three handphones and a wallet belonging to the house occupants, had injuries in his mouth which he sustained during the struggle.
He said the burglar appeared weak when two police patrolmen arrived, and subsequently became unconscious.
He said the suspect was taken in an ambulance to the Kuala Lumpur hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Khairi said apart from the break-in, police are investigating the burglar's death caused by negligence and have detained the technologist and his housemate to assist in the probe.