JOHOR BARU (Malaysia): An armed gang which robbed, injured and raped their victims was put out of business following a tip-off which led to the arrest of 11 suspects last week.

Police were led to a house in Taman Seri Orkid here where they nabbed a suspect and found several parang, saws, duplicate luxury car keys and false road tax discs.

That arrest led police to 10 other suspects, including two women, who are now said to be responsible for 39 cases of armed robbery in the state since April.

So brazen was this gang that it struck at more than one house in a day.

In many of the cases, the robbery victims were injured with knives and some also raped. Police believe that there are other robbery victims who were raped but did not report either robbery or rape.

Close to RM500,000 in stolen items were seized from the gang, including jewellery, motorcycles, a LCD television, several handphones and an undisclosed amount in cash.

A BMW car was also seized. It is believed to have been purchased by the gang from its ill-gotten gains.

The suspects, aged between 25 and 35, were picked up at several locations in Skudai and Tampoi here and remanded until Sunday.

Acting state police chief Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said a 36-year-old Rela member was among the suspects remanded, and he is believed to be the mastermind of the gang.

Police seized a revolver with six live bullets from the suspect.

Tun Hisan said the robbers had used the women in the group to gain entry into the victims' houses and to pawn the stolen jewellery.

The women had duped their victims by getting them to believe that they were handing out wedding invitations. When the victims opened their doors to let the women in, the rest of the gang would barge in.

In other cases, the suspects simply broke into the houses while the victims were drying clothes in the yard or doing other chores.

Three of the suspects have records for robbery and car theft in Malacca and Perak.

"We believe they have committed more than the 39 reported robberies," Tun Hisan said at the Johor police contingent headquarters yesterday.

He declined to reveal the number of victims who were raped but said some were newly wed. It is learnt that at least five who were raped lodged police reports.

Tun Hisan said police were confident of arresting several more gang members.

He also urged those robbed to come forward to identify their valuables.