Two brothers believed to be involved in the theft of a female trader’s cash box at a budget rice stall in Meru Raya have been arrested after evading authorities for nearly three weeks.
Ipoh district police chief Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Najib Hamzah said the suspects, aged 24 and 36, were detained in Teluk Intan on June 8 to assist in investigations.
According to police, both men admitted their involvement in the theft case, which went viral on social media, and are being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft.
“Further investigations revealed that both suspects are also believed to be linked to several other criminal cases in the Ipoh district,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
The suspects have been remanded until June 12 to facilitate investigations, and the investigation papers will be submitted to the Deputy Public Prosecutor for further action.
Police also believe the brothers may be connected to a series of mosque donation box thefts in the Perak Tengah area.
They are expected to be handed over to the Perak Tengah district police headquarters for further investigations into those cases.
The incident occurred on May 21 at around noon when a female trader was targeted by two men on a motorcycle who allegedly posed as customers before making off with a cash box containing RM300 and a mobile phone.
The theft attracted widespread attention after a one-minute-and-25-second video of the incident went viral online.
The footage was recorded by the victim herself while she was livestreaming on TikTok at the time of the theft.
It is understood that the victim’s iPhone 13 was recovered later on the same day after it was allegedly discarded in a residential area at Halaman Meru Aman.
The case sparked public outrage and renewed concerns over criminals targeting small business operators, particularly those conducting online livestream sales from their premises.
With the arrests now made, police are continuing investigations to determine whether the suspects were involved in additional theft cases across the state.
