The man who savagely attacked and robbed a woman at the Taman Mutiara MRT station in Cheras on Valentine’s Day has been remanded for seven days.
Cheras OCPD Asst Comm Mohamed Mokhsein Mohamed Zon said the remand order was from Feb 19 to 25.
“He will be held until then to facilitate our investigations,” he said on Tuesday (Feb 19).
The suspect, 26, was arrested at a house in Taman Cheras at around 8.10pm on Monday (Feb 18) by the Serious Crimes Investigation Department team known as D9 from the Cheras district police headquarters.
According to city police chief Comm Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim, the suspect knew he was a hunted man. He was shaving his head to avoid detection when police stormed his flat and detained him.
“He was lying low because he knew we were looking for him.
“He did not even turn on the lights in his flat, except for a few minutes when he ate or went to the toilet,” Mazlan said to a press conference at City police headquarters on Tuesday (Feb 19).
Describing the man as a hardened criminal with a serious drug addiction problem, Mazlan said the suspect frequently resorted to violence in his crimes.
“He doesn’t hesitate to use violence if the victim does not cooperate.
“He is a member of Gang 08, and we have connected him with six cases of theft and robbery so far,” Mazlan said.
The suspect also has four prior criminal records related to drugs, fighting and robbery. He is said to have been involved in criminal activities since 2014.
“He works as an air-cond repairman. When there is no work, he resorts to crime to fuel his drug habit,” Mazlan said.
He said the man had tested positive for syabu and ecstasy.
“We also recovered 19 mobile phones, ATM cards, and seized random tools that are believed to have been used for breaking into houses.
“So far we believe that he works alone but we are checking if there are any accomplice,” Mazlan added.
Prior to the MRT attack, the man robbed a nearby 24-hour convenience store at around 6.30am.
The victim, a 48-year-old woman, suffered multiple injuries, including bruises on her forehead, after she was brutally attacked by the man in a lift at about 6.45am.
A CCTV recording that went viral showed the woman entering the lift followed by the man, who punched and kicked her repeatedly, before escaping with her MyKad, ATM cards and RM400 in cash.
Shocked by the incident, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng offered a bounty of RM10,000 for any information which could help authorities nab the robber.
It is not immediately known if anyone has claimed the bounty.
Police said the case is being investigated under Section 394 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt in a robbery, which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years, fine and whipping upon conviction.
Although the identity of the suspect was not revealed by the authorities, social media has published information about him. He has been identified as Thinathayaalan A/L Gunasegan.
Earlier report: Feb 18, Suspect in Valentine’s Day MRT Lift Robbery Identified