Police Lieutenant Colonel Sok Ngy showing the evidence and the 5 members of the gang arrested. According to the Koh Santepheap newspaper, 3 of those arrested are Indonesian nationals, 1 a Malaysian and 1 is a Cambodian Muslim (Photo: Bun Nak, Koh Santepheap)Sep 28, 2007
DPA
Phnom Penh - Three Indonesians, a Malaysian and a Cambodian were remanded in custody Friday for their alleged role in a robbery ring which let the air out of wealthy bank customers' car tires and snatched their cash when they got out to change the flat.
Police said Friday that Indonesians Rapy Ardyputrea, 31, Ary Sousanto, 38, and Eirul Harun, 39, with Malaysian Ram Iene, 40, and Cambodian Smann Smael, 28, would face charges of robbery and tampering with property after a rash of robberies using the identical method were reported across the capital.
They said two more suspects in the ring, both Malaysian, remained at large.
'We caught two after a robbery attempt failed and they led us to the others,' Phnom Penh Minor Crime police chief Sok Ngy said by telephone. 'When we raided their home we found a number of items including homemade metal tubes for taking the air out of car tires.'
He said the men have admitted to four robberies on well-heeled bank customers who had driven to their branches to withdraw cash, which had netted them a total of 97,500 dollars.
However, he added, police still suspect the gang may have been involved in more robberies and investigations are continuing.
Police said the gang was stopped when a woman noticed her tire was flat immediately after leaving a bank and, suspicious, called her husband, who told her to lock the doors and wait for the police.
The method is an unusual one for Cambodia, and authorities immediately smelt a rat when identical robberies began occuring on an almost daily basis, police said.
'When we asked them why they pulled so many robberies so quickly, they said they had only been able to obtain a five-day visa and they didn't want to overstay,' Ngy said. He said the men's file was sent to the court Friday.
Police said Friday that Indonesians Rapy Ardyputrea, 31, Ary Sousanto, 38, and Eirul Harun, 39, with Malaysian Ram Iene, 40, and Cambodian Smann Smael, 28, would face charges of robbery and tampering with property after a rash of robberies using the identical method were reported across the capital.
They said two more suspects in the ring, both Malaysian, remained at large.
'We caught two after a robbery attempt failed and they led us to the others,' Phnom Penh Minor Crime police chief Sok Ngy said by telephone. 'When we raided their home we found a number of items including homemade metal tubes for taking the air out of car tires.'
He said the men have admitted to four robberies on well-heeled bank customers who had driven to their branches to withdraw cash, which had netted them a total of 97,500 dollars.
However, he added, police still suspect the gang may have been involved in more robberies and investigations are continuing.
Police said the gang was stopped when a woman noticed her tire was flat immediately after leaving a bank and, suspicious, called her husband, who told her to lock the doors and wait for the police.
The method is an unusual one for Cambodia, and authorities immediately smelt a rat when identical robberies began occuring on an almost daily basis, police said.
'When we asked them why they pulled so many robberies so quickly, they said they had only been able to obtain a five-day visa and they didn't want to overstay,' Ngy said. He said the men's file was sent to the court Friday.
