It was four hours of torment for a ceramic shop owner when her former business partner walked in and pointed a gun at her and another at himself.

“He threatened me, saying that if I refused to give him RM300,000, both of us would die,” businesswoman Mah Touw Keow, 53, said.

He entered the shop at about 8.30pm on Thursday and told Mah that he was armed with two loaded guns and had another 100 bullets in his pockets.

Eventually, Mah contacted her relatives who managed to raise the sum and passed it to her at the shop.

By then, the police were alerted and the man, 44, got agitated.

“He became more aggressive, forcing the police to launch an assault to save the hostage.

“He was shot twice in the head and died on the spot. The victim was rescued at around 12.30am yesterday,” said state Crime Investigations Department (CID) chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat.

Police recovered the two pistols – a revolver and a Smith and Wesson semi-automatic – which were both loaded, he said in a statement.

Mah, when met yesterday at the shop along Jalan Ayer Hitam-Kluang, said that there were about eight staff and two customers at her place when the drama unfolded..

Fortunately, no one was injured.

Mah, a single mother of four, said the man had come to her shop a day before when she was not around.

“One of my children was manning the shop then. The man demanded some money. My son did not entertain his request,” said Mah.

Mah said that she used to have business dealings with the man back in 2006.

“I have not seen him or heard from him after our last business deal until he come to my shop and demanded for money that night,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ayer Itam MP Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong paid tribute to the good work of the police.

He noted their efforts in tracking the offender’s movements via closed-circuit television.

“I have texted the Johor police chief and the IGP to express my appreciation to their leadership,” he wrote on Facebook.

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by NORBAITI PHAHARORADZI

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