SIBU: For more than a month, motorcycle owners in Kapit were wondering how their petrol tanks could run dry overnight.
This mystery was solved with the recent arrest of five youth aged 15 to 19.
Kapit District Police chief deputy supt Freddy Bian said that the five were suspected of the crime in Kapit bazaar and Bleteh since October.
“The modus operandi of the five youths who are all school dropouts was to force open the motorcycle seat. They would then use a plastic hose to drain out the petrol from the tank to a 1.5-litre bottle,” he said yesterday.
Freddy added that the investigation had revealed that the group mostly targeted motorcycles which were parked overnight in the town area by owners who used expressboat to go to Sibu.
“This occurred at night and they have been stealing up to four bottles a night.”
He revealed that they would sell the petrol to their close friends for between RM2 and RM5 per bottle, and shared the proceeds among themselves.
The five suspects have been remanded for four days. The case is being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft.
