Life savings gone in seconds
By T.N. Alagesh
news@nst.com.my
The couple and their 32-year-old daughter-in-law were in their car and on their way home after withdrawing the money from a bank here.
When they stopped at the traffic light along Jalan Bukit Ubi about 11.30am, two men on a motorcycle stopped next to their car.
The pillion rider alighted, broke the car's front passenger window and grabbed a handbag containing the money.
The couple and their daughter-in-law tried to hold on to the handbag. However, it was eventually wrenched from them and the robbers sped off with it.
Sharifah Nazatul Shima Syed Mohd Sidek said she drove her in-laws' -- Ismail Wan Jaafar, 60, and his wife, Ramlah Ab Rahman, 56, to withdraw the money, which was put into Ramlah's handbag that the latter placed on the floor of the front passenger seat.
"I did not suspect anything when the two men stopped next to our car at the traffic light.
Suddenly the pillion rider alighted and used a hard object to smash the window before reaching for the handbag.
"My mother-in-law tried to hang on to her handbag, before I intervened to help but the handbag strap snapped and the suspect escaped with it," she said in a telephone interview yesterday.
"The incident has left both my in-laws' heartbroken and traumatised.
"They spent years saving the money and only recently decided to spend it on the renovation, but now, everything is gone."
Sharifah Nazatul later lodged a police report and helped police to come up with a photofit of the man who took the handbag.
District police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Jasmani Yusoff said police managed to put together a sketch of the suspect. Initial investigations revealed the man was in his early 20s.
Ramlah also lost her personal documents, including identity card and bank book, which were in the handbag.
Jasmani advised the public to be more careful when withdrawing large amounts of money from banks as they could be the targets of snatch thieves.
Those with information are urged to contact the police at 09-5132222.
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