KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: City police have launched an all-out war against robbery, particularly snatch thefts, with the CID, traffic, narcotics and special branch personnel all getting involved in an integrated approach.

The month-long operation will cover the five districts of Cheras, Sentul, Putrajaya, Dang Wangi and Brickfields.

CID chief Senior Asst Comm II Datuk Ku Chin Wah said snatch theft cases had doubled this year and a more proactive and aggressive approach was needed to tackle the menace.

"There will be roadblocks, inspections, surveillance and 24-hour crime prevention rounds for an initial period of one month to test its effectiveness.

"We are using the combined efforts (of the various departments) to go after these people," he said.

SAC Ku said unarmed robberies and snatch thefts made up 31% of the total crime index this year.

There were 2,254 unarmed robberies by gangs reported this year (until April 15) compared to 1,249 cases in the same period last year.

Unarmed robberies by individuals increased from 234 cases to 290.

"The biggest jump is in snatch theft cases where 1,206 cases were reported compared to 606 cases last year.

"This type of crime causes a lot of trauma to the victims," SAC Ku said adding that in some cases the victims were badly injured.

Citing an example, he said a 28 year-old woman, a victim of a snatch theft near Berjaya Times Square last Thursday, had to be operated on and was in a coma for a couple of days.

"We are very serious in combating this menace and we hope this one-month campaign will snowball into a sustainable and continuous effort with more involvement from other groups and non governmental organisations (NGO).

SAC Ku said the operation on its first day (Wednesday) saw 1,837 people being screened and 722 motorcycles, 333 cars and 34 lorries and vans inspected.

"A total of 23 people were detained, including eight for suspected involvement in robberies in Sentul and Brickfields and the rest for suspected drug abuse," he said.

The public can assist the police by calling the hotline at 03-21159999 to report any suspicious characters or inform police of crimes being committed. --The Star/ANN