Meeting disrupted by robbers
10/09/2007 The Malay Mail by By MOHD YAAKOB YUSOF

A GROUP of five men — two armed with parang and one with a stick — barged into a developer’s office in Batu 3, Shah Alam, yesterday and robbed those present of their belongings.

The victims included a group of Taman Bukit Pelangi Residents’ Association committee members who were having a meeting with representatives of the developer.

The robbers later fled in a car belonging to one of the developer’s workers with their loot, including cell phones, cash, jewellery and credit cards.

A committee member of the residents’ association, who declined to be identified, told The Malay Mail that one of the intruders had stood guard at the front door of the office during the 11.45am heist.

The other four, including those who were armed, went into the meeting room and the developer’s office, and told everyone to keep quiet.

“They told use to stop our meeting and to shut up,” the committee member said at his house yesterday.

“We were shocked at that time. We were more shocked when the man suddenly slashed our 59- year-old treasurer, who suffered a cut on his hand.”

He said one of the armed men then asked everyone to sit under the table and hand over their belongings.

Most of them did as told, but two elderly men were slow to follow the instruction.

Angered by this, one of the robbers attacked the elderly men, causing one of them, an apartment manager in his 60s, to suffer cuts on his head.

Another victim, who is a member of the committee, suffered minor injuries.

After taking cell phones, cash, jewellery, credit cards and other valuables from those in the office, the robbers told them not to move for three minutes, to allow them to escape in the black Toyota Vios.

The injured men were sent to Subang Jaya Medical Centre. The apartment manager, who received two stitches for his injuries, was later transferred to Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang.

The residents’ association president, Lim Ai Yim, said she was shocked to learn about the robbery from her committee members.

“I could not attend the meeting as I had another engagement. I only knew about the incident after I arrived home,” she said.

She said a report was lodged at the SS17 police station.

“Several officers from Selangor police came to the office and took statements,” she said.

Also present at the developer’s office during the incident were three representatives from Mara Education Foundation, which is renting the developer’s apartments for use by Mara-sponsored students bound for Japan.