Residents living in fear after robberies in exclusive resort
18/02/2007 The Star By Farik Zolkepli

JOHOR BARU: An exclusive gated community has become the target of masked robbers.

Despite security being beefed up the residents are now fearful of another robbery in the exclusive compound.

The first break-in at the housing area located in a resort in Senai happened on Valentine's Day, at about 3am, when four robbers wearing masks broke into a German engineer's home.

They woke up the man and his wife at knifepoint and tied them up with wires.

The men, aged between 20 and 30, and believed to be foreigners, spent half-an-hour ransacking the house and got away with cash, jewellery, a digital camera and a laptop worth RM28,000.

The victims, who have been living in the area for two years, freed themselves after the robbers left and alerted the authorities.

Two days later, on Friday, two robbers broke into the house of a South African couple, by smashing the front sliding door at 2.50am.

The noise woke up the wife who screamed alerting her husband. The man, a 38 year-old factory general manager here, threw a TV set at the robbers, causing them to flee.

The robbers were said to be armed with screwdrivers.

Johor Baru (North) OCPD Asst Comm Ruslan Hassan, said the German couple suffered minor injuries from being tied up.

ACP Ruslan said the police have started a manhunt but have yet to make an arrest.

He advised the public to be more careful and cautious during this festive season, especially if they are going to be away from their homes for long periods.

He urged anyone with information to contact the police hotline at 07-2212999 or the nearest police station.