Duo lose 30kg gold bars in heist

KUALA LUMPUR: Barely two hours after arriving from overseas with 30kg of gold bullions worth more than RM3 million, two businessmen lost it to four parang-wielding robbers at Jalan Raja, near Dataran Merdeka on Saturday.
Sources said the victims who are gold bar wholesalers and own goldsmith shops at Jalan Mesjid India had earlier arrived from Singapore at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) with a suitcase packed with the gold bars at about 7pm.
It is learnt that as a security measure to avoid the risk of being robbed during their journey to the city if they travelled by road, the men who are aged 35 and 40 chose to board a train from KLIA to KL Sentral here.
On arriving KL Sentral about an hour later, the men lugged their gems and took a taxi to their office at Jalan Mesjid India.
Sources said the victims told police that as they passed Dataran Merdeka, a four-wheel drive vehicle overtook their taxi and abruptly swerved towards it, forcing the cabbie to pull over at about 8.30pm.
Four men armed with parangs stepped out before dashing towards the taxi.
Brandishing their weapons, the robbers threatened their victims and ordered them to hand over the bag containing the gold bars.
Fearing for their lives, the victims who were too stunned at the sight of the assailants could only watch as the assailants grabbed their gem-filled bag before escaping in their getaway vehicle.
It is also learnt that the businessmen who were unharmed lodged a police report two hours after the heist.
Police are gathering clues to the case and have not discounted the possibilities of an "inside job" as the robbers appeared to be have been aware of the movements of the victims including an hour-long delay of their flight in Singapore.
Investigators urged those with information on the robbers to contact the Kuala Lumpur police hotline at 03-2115 9999.
In an unrelated case early on Sunday, a group of car thieve broke into a luxury car showroom on Jalan Chan Sow Lin, Salak South before driving off with five cars worth RM2.2 million.
Kuala Lumpur police CID chief SAC Zainuddin Ahmad said the thieves comprised of at least 10 men but only five had broken into the showroom after climbing over a fence at about 9am.
He said the thieves pried open a drawer at the showroom office and managed to obtain the keys of a Porsche Panamera, a Range Rover, a Bentley, an Audi and a Toyota Vellfire before driving off the vehicles from the place within 15 minutes of gaining entry into the place.
He said a security guard on duty at the place had left after finishing his duties at 7am. Staff who arrived for work at 10am were shocked to find the cars missing.