KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Four college students have been detained for allegedly impersonating policemen and robbing three people of RM15,000 (S$6,108).

The four, aged between 19 and 23, are alleged to have robbed a 38-year-old Sri Lankan woman and her housemates, two Malaysian men in their 30s, at a condominium in Jalan Klang Lama here about 4am on Thursday.

Brickfields police chief Assistant Commissioner Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid said the robbers had told the Nepalese guard at the condominium that they were policemen and that they wanted to check on the woman's unit.

"The unsuspecting guard led the robbers to the victim's unit and left. Once inside, the robbers threatened their victims with a knuckle-duster and relieved them of RM15,000 and mobile phones.

"The woman, who works as a waitress in a restaurant in the city, later lodged a report," Bari told a press conference yesterday.

Based on a tip-off, a police team raided a budget hotel in Cheras, where it detained four men and recovered RM5,742.

"The four suspects are all students of a college in the city and none has a criminal record," said Bari.

Brickfields police also scored another success when they arrested a 27-year-old odd-job worker who stole stuff belonging to students of a university here.

The man was nabbed on Monday following four police reports lodged by his victims.

"The suspect, did odd-jobs at the university the students were in. We seized several mobile phones, cameras, and wallets from him," said Bari.

--New Straits Times