Five gangsters shot dead in Penang

Published: Tuesday August 20, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM

Updated: Tuesday August 20, 2013 MYT 11:04:49 AM

by tan sin chow, farik zolkepli, kiatisak chua, AND christopher tan

Video temporarily unavailable.

GEORGE TOWN: Police gunned down five Gang 04 members who are linked to at least 10
murders in a shootout at an apartment in Sungai Nibong.

Ballistic tests on the three firearms recovered from them showed that the five were involved in at
least 12 shooting cases in three states.

Police believe they have now solved at least 10 murder cases in Penang (seven), Kedah (two)
and Negri Sembilan (one), and two attempted murders in Penang.

The dead have been identified as J. Gobinath, 31, R. Ramesh, 27, N. Rakan, 25, M. Suresh, 25,
and M. Gobinath, 21.
End of the road: Policemen bringing out the bodies of the five men who were gunned down at an
apartment in Sungai Nibong.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said police laid an ambush at the
apartment block at about 4.30am yesterday before moving to the unit on the 11th floor where the
suspects were staying.

We were shot at first and we shot back in defence. This subsequently led to the death of the five
men, he said.

Khalid said that four of the gang members had multiple criminal records for drug offences,
causing hurt using a weapon and rioting, but none of them were Emergency Ordinance detainees.

One of them was the mastermind behind the crimes.

Blocked shots: Khalid pointing to a small indentation on a bulletproof shield used by police
during the operation at the apartment in Sungai Nibong.
Our investigations showed that they were either hired killers or acted in revenge over the
shooting cases which they had been involved in since last year.

Ballistic tests on the firearms showed that they were used in at least 12 murder or attempted
murder cases.

We believe there are remnants of this gang still at large. The operation to track them down is
ongoing, Khalid told a press conference at the state police contingent headquarters in Penang
Road yesterday.

We have been monitoring their activities for some time. They were very mobile and would
travel all over the country to commit murder, he added.

A recent spate of shootings in Penang and various parts of the country has sparked speculation of
a gang war.

On Aug 8, K. Veerappan, a 37-year-old scrap dealer believed to be a Gang 36 member, was shot
dead when he stopped his car at a traffic light in Anson Road.

Related stories:
Families seek explanation for shooting deaths
Police launch initial stage of nationwide crackdown on crime
www.thestar.com.my/News/.../Five-gangsters-shot-dead-in-Penang/
he recent disclosure by Malaysian authorities that ethnic Indians made up 71% of the 40,313
gangsters in Malaysia has divided the community, with some complaining about racial profiling
but others acknowledging the sad fact.

The festering issue came under the spotlight in the Singapore Straits Times today, which said the
profile of the gangs spoke volumes about the struggles of some Malaysian-Indians against
poverty, a lack of education and neglect by the government and their own Indian leaders.

There are some 2 million Indians in Malaysia, a relatively small minority, so the revelation by
the Home Ministry last week of their over-representation in gangsterism has sparked anger and
fear in a section of the Indian community worried about racial profiling.

MIC Youth secretary C. Sivarrajah said the disclosure by Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk
Abdul Rahim Mohamad Radzi could mean racial profiling of Indians could worsen. He pointed
out that there were many cases of Indian youths who had died in police custody.

Others denied Abdul Rahim's claim as the Malays formed nearly 60 per cent of the population
but only 1,923 were involved in gangsterism. They also pointed out that there were a lot of Mat
Rempit gangs on the road.

The Straits Times quoted lawyer S. Pasupathi as saying whatever had been revealed by the Home
Ministry were the bare facts and it was time to sit down and solve the problem.

The director of MySkills Foundation, which helps Indian school dropouts, said this was a
national issue now, it wasn't about playing politics.

Authorities have said that the two biggest and most notorious gangs, Gang 04 and Gang 08, were
predominantly Indian and very active in populous, rich states such as Selangor, Penang, Johor
and Perak.

A fortnight ago, police surrounded and shot dead five suspected Gang 04 members at a
condominium in Penang. This sparked an outcry especially among the Indian community with
many claiming it was an execution by the police.
The Straits Times reported that today's Indian youth problem could be traced back 30 years ago
when thousands of Indian families were living and working on rubber and oil palm plantations.
When the estates were cleared to be developed into residential and commercial projects, these
families were displaced.

In some plantations, generations of Indian workers found themselves unemployed when they
were replaced by cheaper Indonesian and Bangladesh workers.

A number of sociologists agree the displacement of estate workers and its impact on the bottom
40% of the Indian community in Malaysia is the root cause of the problem.

Dr Denison Jayasooria, secretary-general of rights group Proham, said the social support system
broke down as families struggled to adjust to urban life. This included growing up in cramped
flats, with children left at home while both parents go to work and many children not finishing
school.

The stigma of growing up in undesirable neighbourhoods, where poverty and crime were
rampant, led to young boys mixing with the wrong company, said V. Perumal, a security guard
who lives in one such area in Jalan Loke Yew in Kuala Lumpur.

Citizenship issues were another problem as many families didn't have birth certificates or
identity cards, although Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat have sought to resolve these issues
in a bid to garner the support of the Indian community.

Malaysia's strong economic growth between the 1980s and 1990s papered the festering problem
while the Indian community's political leaders, led by former MIC stalwart Datuk Seri Dr S.
Samy Vellu, were not responsive to the issue.

The Straits Times reported that the issue was further complicated as the community's political
leadership was divided with five Indian-led parties in the Barisan Nasional coalition. Suggestions
of uniting to better help the Indian community were met with incredulity and chest-puffing.

An adviser to Indian youth organisations, S. Velu, summed it up when he said the Indian
community was divided as everyone wanted to be a party chairman or president. What was
lacking was good leadership to steer the community towards a better future. - September 2, 2013.