SUV was torched to conceal evidence linked to cigarette holdup

A sports utilities vehicle (SUV) was found torched in Ara Kuda, Tasek Gelugor near here yesterday afternoon, in what is believed to be an attempt to destroy evidence of those linked to a cigarette van robbery.

Initial investigations revealed it was the same vehicle which was driven by a robber to ram into a motorcycle ridden by two policemen who were chasing the man at the 10th mile stretch, heading to Alor Pongsu near Parit Buntar, Perak.

In the 1pm incident, one of the policemen, Lance Corporal Azuan Abdullah, 25, of the motorcycle patrol unit was killed on the spot while his colleague sustained head and body injuries.

Seberang Perai Utara (SPU) police chief ACP Abdul Rahman Ibrahim said: Based on a police forensic team examination, the SUV is the vehicle which was used to ram into the policemen's motorcycle.

"The robbers were believed to have abandoned the SUV, set it ablaze and escaped in another vehicle.

"(When the police arrived at the scene) The rear portion of the vehicle was found to have been 60 percent torched.

"We believe the robbers might have fled to a neighbouring country," he told a press conference here today.

Abdul Rahman said the public only became aware of the vehicle when they spotted thick smoke billowing in the vicinity.

A check of the car chasis number indicated it was reported stolen in Simpang Pulai, Perak last year.

Following the cigarette van heist at Alor Pongsu in Bagan Serai, Perak, Azuan and his partner chased a robber who was driving the SUV, only to have their machine rammed by the vehicle.