TM subcontractor among 14 arrested for cable theft
GEORGETOWN - A Telekom Malaysia (TM) subcontractor was arrested along with 13 of his workers for alleged involvement in cable theft in Penang and Kedah.
The group had been cutting out TM cables from underground and selling them out to buyers, which has cost TM total losses of RM 910,448.
Penang police chief, Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said aside from them, the police have also arrested five locals, including a woman who was a buyer of the stolen cables in Sungai Petani, Kedah.
He said that all 19 individuals arrested were between 27 and 47 years old and were from Kedah.
The first arrest was made on Jan 10, with 11 men arrested, including the subcontractor, at the Jalan Tanjung Bungah traffic light intersection here at 2.40am.
"When we arrested them, they were actually cutting and removing underground cables.
"They use a special tool attached to a lorry to pull the underground cable before cutting it. They would then sell these cables to interested buyers," he said at a press conference held on Monday at the Penang Police Contingent Headquarters.
Telekom Malaysia had earlier, filed a police report following complaints from users about internet service disruptions in the area, which led to the arrest of the perpetrators.
"After receiving the report, the police initiated an investigation and found that they all failed to show any valid documents.
"The group's modus operandi is to steal underground cables through the manhole while pretending to work on Telekom Malaysia cable maintenance to obscure the authorities.
"All the stolen cables were carried by lorries to landfill sites in Sungai Petani and Kuala Ketil, Kedah," he said, adding that, the price of each kilogramme of copper in the cable was RM30.
Following the rest, a total of 27 cable theft cases were successfully resolved, namely 17 in Penang and 10 in Kedah, Mohd Shuhaily said.
"We also seized a number of items from the arrest, including a lorry, three cars, 65 cables, four iron cutters, four pipe cutters, two iron hooks, a saw, and an iron hammer.
"The sum value of confiscated items was RM150,000," he stated.
The police also discovered that seven of the 19 people arrested tested positive for syabu.
"The police also found that 14 of them have between two and 12 records of drug and criminal offences," he added.
He said all of them were remanded for further investigation.
"The case is being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft," he added.
