Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim holding up the shirt wore by the suspect during the incident that was confiscated during a raid February 19, 2019. — Picture by Kenneth Tee

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — The 26-year-old suspect who violently attacked a woman and robbed her in a lift at the Taman Mutiara MRT station last week is a member of the notorious Gang 08, police revealed today.

City police chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim, however, said in the latest incident on February 14, the suspect had acted on his own.

“The suspect had confessed to eight cases of robberies, snatch thefts and break-ins around Cheras that were perpetrated alone since 2014,” he told a press conference at the City Contingent Headquarters here.

Mazlan said initial investigations showed the suspect was a serial criminal with four past convictions in drug abuse and gang robbery.

The suspect who tested positive for ecstasy and meth, was arrested at a house in Taman Cheras at 8.10pm yesterday by the Serious Crimes Investigation Department team.

“We managed to identify the suspect and his motorcycle after retrieving a CCTV recording from a convenience store he had robbed prior to the lift incident,” Mazlan said.

He said the suspect had gone into hiding after the robbery and was nabbed while shaving his head bald in an attempt to conceal himself from the authorities.

During the raid, police found 19 mobile phones, various bank cards, break-in tools including clothing wore by the suspect during the robbery.

The suspect, who worked as an air-conditioning technician, have been remanded until February 25 to facilitate investigations under Section 394 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery.

Attributing to the brutal nature in which the crime was committed, Mazlan said the maximum seven-day remand order was therefore applied.

“This case is considered solved with the suspect’s arrest and we are tracking down his remaining accomplices.

“We therefore advise the public to be careful of their surrounding and avoid quiet places as this gives criminals the opportunity to strike,” he said.

In the clip that had gone viral, the man was seen following the 48-year-old woman into the lift and unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks before running away with her belongings.

The victim suffered injuries to several parts of her body and swelling on her forehead.