POLICE IDENTIFY SEVERAL WORKERS' QUARTERS USED AS CRIMINAL HIDEOUTS

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (Bernama) -- Police have identified several workers' quarters as among the places used by immigrant criminals in the state of Selangor and in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur as their hideouts.

Selangor criminal investigation head SAC II Hasnan Hassan said the criminals
also kept their loot at the places which were isolated and far from residential
areas.

"Investigations revealed that the modus operandi of immigrant criminals
is the same. Most of the time, they use temporary settlements to hide after
committing a crime," he told Bernama here Monday.

"We have identified the places but the number cannot be revealed. Among our
focus are workers' quarters," he said.

On Sunday, the Selangor police shot dead five Indonesians known as members
of the Ipol Gang during an operation at the Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve in
Sungai Buloh.

The gang, believed to have been involved in several robberies in Perak and
Selangor over the past six months, used a shed built on the top of Bukit Lagong
as their temporary shelter.

On Monday, the police visited the scene again and spent about three hours
combing the area. They were also seen using metal detectors before tearing down
the shed.

Hasnan said police found two currency notes, a digital camera and two
wristwatches at the shed Monday.

Meanwhile, a nearby Kampung Bahagia resident who wanted to known as Lee, 56,
said the gang were seen frequenting the shed since two months ago.

"We didn't know they were criminals. We only saw them going to the shed and
I thought they were contract workers," he said.

Lee who lives in the village since 20 years ago, said the shed was built
three years ago but was abandoned a year later.
-- BERNAMA