Four men who staged a robbery near a petrol station at Bandar Perda here on Sunday, and later made a false police report to claim insurance, were arrested on the same day. (File pic)
Four men who staged a robbery near a petrol station at Bandar Perda here on Sunday, and later made a false police report to claim insurance, were arrested on the same day. (File pic)

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Four men who staged a robbery near a petrol station at Bandar Perda here on Sunday, and later made a false police report to claim insurance, were arrested on the same day.

The men, aged between 23 and 51, staged the robbery of a black bag – containing RM418,000 in cash and various gold jewellery weighing 2,864.99gm and worth RM601,647.90 – from a car parked near the petrol station.

In his police report, a 26-year-old suspect claimed that a man in a mask had removed the bag from the boot of his car when he stopped to purchase drinks at the petrol station at 3.50pm, after visiting a nearby gold jewellery shop.

He alleged that the masked man had fled on a motorcycle and that he did not get out of the car as he feared for his safety.

Seberang Prai Tengah district police chief Assistant Commissioner Nik Ros Azhan Nik Abdul Hamid said an investigation following the police report revealed that the 26-year-old was the chief executive officer of a gold dealership which has been operating in Batu Pahat since 2015.

“During our initial interrogation, the suspect and an accomplice admitted to lodging a false police report because they wanted to claim insurance.

“The third suspect was the planner of the crime, and the fourth suspect was tasked with taking the bag from the car and throwing in into a drain in the Perda area,” he said today.

Nik Ros Azhan said all four have been remanded for six days from Sunday to facilitate an investigation of the case under Section 395 of the Penal Code.