Thefts make up 70 pct of total crimes in Sibu

SIBU: Acting Sibu police chief Supt Zamani Hamdan warned of the rampant thefts in Sibu, saying these had made up about 70 per cent of the total crimes last year.He said these included thefts of motorcycles and cars as well as house breaking thefts.

For overall crimes, he said there was a hike by 9.7 per cent.

In a press conference yesterday afternoon, Zamani said the police were transparent on these because they wanted to fight crimes together with the people, and being honest would be the way to gain a trustworthy partnership.

“As violent crimes drop sharply now, we are focusing on thefts. We want the people to step up preventive measures and inform us when they have the crime tips.”

Zamani said simple measures like not leaving their car keys on the wall of their living rooms, lighting up the back and front yards and installing safety locks would help to reduce such crimes greatly.

He said on their part, they had beefed up the security of the town.

“There are eight MPV cars in the neighbourhood nightly manned by two personnel in each car. The CID men, the men on beat duty and even the officers are on the ground.”

He said they were concentrating in the residential areas because these were where most thefts had occurred.

He said they also moved outskirts to villages like in Sungei Bidut.

Meanwhile, Zamani confirmed yesterday two thieves fleeing with stolen motorcycles were taken back to Sibu after they were arrested in Betong.

The acting police chief said the two stole the two machines here, rode the machines out and when they were refilling at a petrol station in Betong, they were arrested by the police there.

He said their counter-part in Betong had handed the two to them and they had remanded the suspects for further investigation.

Zamani reminded public members not to be careless with their motorcycles when leaving them in public places.

“Careless owners have on some occasions left the keys in the ignition hole for the thieves.”