MIRI(Sarawak,Malaysia): More than a hundred thousand ringgit - that is how much a snatch thief managed to amass from his thieving spree on the streets of Miri city.

However, his life of crime came to an end yesterday when two civil servants saw him snatching a handbag containing RM37,000 from an elderly woman who had just walked out of a bank.

They chased after him on their motorcycles for about a kilometre before kicking him and causing him to fall off his bike.

Investigations carried out by Miri police found that the snatch thief had managed to make a lucrative living by targeting women, especially those who had just withdrawn money from banks.

The snatch thief is a foreigner who had managed to enter Sarawak frequently over the past four years.

Miri Police Chief Asst Comm Jamaluddin Ibrahim said the police are trying to get snatch thieves off the streets for good.

'We are now trying to locate the suspect's accomplices. They are suspected to be involved in numerous cases here,' he said.

ACP Jamaluddin said police are investigating how the foreigner managed to enter and leave Sarawak on numerous occasions during the past few years.

On a separate case, he said the police have found the body of a fisherman, who was flung overboard after he was struck by lightning off the coast here early Thursday.

The body was found near the beach in Kuala Baram on Thursday night.

Two fishermen died in that tragedy.

On another case, ACP Jamaluddin said police are having problems identifying a body found near the Kuala Baram estuary three days ago.

The body was that of a man, but the face was badly decomposed. Anyone with a missing male relative has been asked to contact the nearest police station.