Shop blast: Cops nab one, hunt for trio
Published on: Tuesday, January 15, 2019
By: Sherell Jeffrey
Kota Kinabalu:
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Police have arrested the mastermind and a fish bomb expert believed linked to the blast at a jewellery shop in Segama Complex here on New Year’s Eve.
They are now on the lookout for three foreigners, including a woman, identified as Lani, Aris and Siti, all in their 30s, to facilitate investigations.
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All five, including the two arrested, are believed to be friends who came together to create a plan which they concocted days earlier before executing it on Dec 31, last year.
The 2.45am explosion left 90 per cent of the premises damaged from ceiling to its wall partitions. However, the would-be robbers left empty handed as the store owner was believed to have kept the jewellery elsewhere during non-business hours.
State Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah in a media conference at the State police headquarters in Kapayan, here, Monday said initial difficulty in getting a lead caused delay in solving the case.
However cooperation from civilians in addition to detailed investigations finally gave police the lead they needed with the arrest of the duo.
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The first arrest involved the 22-year-old mastermind, a foreigner with two previous convictions for theft and break-in, who was nabbed on Jan 2.
His arrest led to the detention of a 64-year-old local fisherman, who is an expert in making explosives especially fish bombs. The second suspect was nabbed on Jan 5.
Police also seized residue believed to have been used to make the explosives from a settlement where the older suspect was nabbed in the city.
Omar on the other hand denied that the mastermind was the person who alerted police of the blast.
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