KUCHING: A 45-year-old female Grab driver was robbed by a passenger at 9.30 pm last Friday.
Sarawak CID chief, SAC Dato Dev Kumar confirmed that the victim received a ride request from an individual via the e-hailing mobile app.
The individual then asked to be picked up from a house at Lorong 14 Stapok and to be dropped off at a Sports Centre at Jalan Stakan in Kota Sentosa.
The driver then picked up the male passenger as requested and upon arrival at his destination, the passenger requested to be dropped off at Muara Tuang instead, to get his motorcycle.
Dev said at about 10 pm, upon arrival in front of a factory at Muara Tuang, the passenger pulled out a parang (machete) and held it to the victim’s neck and forced her to exit the vehicle.
The suspect then left the scene in the victim’s car (Perodua Myvi) together with her mobile phone and personal documents.
The victim however managed to get a ride and went straight to the Sekama Police Station to lodge a report.
He said IPK D9 Robbery Task Force was activated to track down the suspect and the stolen vehicle.
Acting on information received, at 4pm last Tuesday, the D9 Task Force led by ASP Lawrence Anak Rawieng raided a budget hotel at Tabuan Jaya, Kuching.
When the team broke down a room door the suspect managed to escape through a window and hid in a store a few metres from the budget hotel.
The police team however managed to find and arrest him.
The suspect was then brought back to his room in the budget hotel where a parang (machete) was recovered.
During an interrogation, the suspect admitted to committing a robbery.
He also claimed that he sold the car (Perodua Myvi) to a workshop at Jalan Datuk Stephen Yong here for RM1,000.
Dev added that at 2.30 pm on Wednesday, the same D9 team raided a car workshop at Jalan Datuk Stephen Yong here where the stolen car (Perodua Myvi) was found. However, the car has been ‘cannibalised’ and its chassis numbers have been tampered with.
The workshop owner, a 39-year-old man was arrested and the car seized.
The case is being investigated as a robbery case under Section 392/397 of the Penal Code. The suspect is being remanded for seven days for further investigation while the workshop owner will be brought to court today for an application of a remand order. Dev congratulated the D9 Robbery Task Force for successfully arresting the suspect and solving the case within a week.
