Goldsmith shops jittery after spate of jewelry heists

PETALING JAYA: The recent spate of goldsmith shop robberies in shopping malls since New Year's eve in Cheras, Bangi and Seremban has created a sense of unease among mall visitors and jewellers.
The three cases involved the same modus operandi where it was a swift job that was over within three minutes and the robbers' had their accomplices waiting outside of the premises.
In the latest incident in Seremban on Thursday night, eight gunmen stormed into a goldsmith shop at Palm Mall shopping mall in Kemayan Square and carted away six trays of jewellery, all within three minutes.
In the 8pm incident, the suspects, who were all wearing full-face helmets, barged into the premises and smashed the glass display panels before scooping up the jewellery.
Seremban district police chief ACP Thiew Hock Poh had said the link between the three robberies is still being investigated.
He did not rule out the a possible link among the three goldsmith robberies.
A shotgun was reported to have been found near the scene of the crime in Seremban, believed to have been left by one of the fleeing robbers.
Just hours before this incident, a trio of robbers wearing motorcycle helmets with visors had also carted away RM370,000 worth of jewellery in two minutes from a goldsmith in Taman Bangi Avenue in a supermarket in Persiaran Bangi Avenue, Kajang.
Police said one of the suspects was also seen with an object that looked like a gun but no shots were fired.
Following the spate of robberies, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun had said that all state police in the country have been placed on high alert and police are tracking down the suspects in all three back-to-back incidents.
Within hours after Mohamad Fuzi's announcement, a police team from the Special Task Force on Organised Crime (Stafoc) and Serious Crimes Investigation Division (D9) shot dead a wanted man in Taman Connaught, Cheras, on Friday night after he did not heed the team's order to stop his car and opened fire at the pursuing policemen.
Source said the man in his 20s was wanted for possession of firearms and robbery at jewellery outlets in the Klang Valley including for the latest RM1.5 million heist in Taman Segar, Cheras, on New Year's eve.
A police source confirmed this development and said investigations revealed that the deceased is one of the eight robbers involved in the Cheras heist.
Later, at 2.45am on Saturday, police shot dead another man at Jalan PJS 9, Bandar Sunway.
Subang Jaya district police chief ACP Mohammad Azlin Sadari said the man, from Bandar Puchong Jaya, had a record for multiple criminal offences including serious crimes.
Police said the man was behaving in a suspicious manner while in his car, prompting police to instruct him to pull over.
Instead, the man attempted to flee and fired a shot at the police.
The man died in a subsequent exchange of gunfire with the police.
Police have so far remained tight-lipped on whether the suspect shot dead in Subang Jaya has any ties to the robbers in the Klang Valley and Seremban jewellery store heists.
"We will hold a press conference on these shootings and goldsmith heists once we have tied up all loose ends," said deputy KL police chief DCP Datuk Zainuddin Yaacob.
These latest incidents come on the heels of a robbery last Nov 1 where a goldsmith store in Giant Kota Damansara was robbed of RM1.1 million worth of gold items.