Manufacturer wiped clean of 29,000 towels

KUALA LUMPUR: The manager of a towel manufacturer not only faced the indignity of losing more than 29,000 towels to a gang of robbers, but to add insult to injury, was forced to pay the rental cost of the truck and RM1,300 in "labour" fees to move the stolen goods as well.
In the incident on April 23, the main suspect, a 32-year-old Indian national, approached the manager of the company on the pretext of purchasing some towels.
"The manager was in the midst of closing the shutters of the premises at around 11.30pm when he was approached by the suspect. Suddenly five to six other assailants approached the manager and barged into the premises," Cheras district police chief ACP Abdul Ghani Mohamad Ji said today.
"The suspects looted most of the towels stored in the building and put them in a truck which was parked outside," he said
Abdul Ghani said the suspects then forced the manager to pay the rental cost of the truck and RM1,300 cash as labour fee.
On Wednesday, police arrested the Indian national at Shamelin Perkasa here at about 1pm.
"He was arrested at a building where the stolen towels were kept. The manager who followed the raiding party was able to identify the stolen products," he said, adding police are on the hunt for his accomplices.
The case is being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft and the suspect have remanded until May 15 to facilitate the investigation.