PETALING JAYA: Surrender or be exposed and hunted down — this is the warning police are giving Ah Longs high on their wanted list. The Ah Longs have 24 hours to surrender or their identities will be exposed to the public.
At least three or four loan-sharking kingpins involved in kidnappings and assault cases have been identified.
They include the Ah Longs involved in the recent Seri Kembangan case in which three men who failed to repay their debts were chained like animals in a vacant shoplot and fed scraps for about two months.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan told Sunday Star police had identified the culprits and were hot on their trail.
“If they don’t surrender, we will release their pictures to the media.
“The police are going on the offensive to hunt down the Ah Longs. We will hunt them until we find them, even if they go underground,” said Musa, adding that he had directed his men to concentrate on nailing down the criminals.
Police are also seeking public assistance to provide information on any Ah Long activities.
The authorities have been stepping up their efforts in the fight against the loan shark menace following a spate of Ah Long-related kidnappings prior to the Sri Kembangan case.
On Friday, the Home Ministry announced that it had formed a task force to deal with the problem.
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong commended the efforts taken by the authorities to nab the loan sharks.
However, he cautioned that the Ah Long syndicates were big and sophisticated.
“Stronger enforcement will prevent loan sharks from becoming too violent in recovering their debt. However, many will now lie low; not only the police are after them but also the public.
“Even licensed moneylenders are more careful because they know people are angry with loan sharks at the moment,” he said.
Chong added that in the long run, the demand for loans from Ah Longs has to be nipped in order to solve the problem.
“The Government needs to look at how to educate people on managing their finances as well as warn them of the dangers of borrowing money from these unlicensed moneylenders. Only when they stop going to them and put the Ah Longs out of business can we eradicate this menace from society.”
Growing violence
Ah Longs are getting bolder and using more violence in recovering their debts.
May 27, 2009
Police rescued three men who had been chained like dogs in a prison-like cell at an unoccupied shoplot in Seri Kembangan for around two months. They were beaten daily and fed only water and bread while the loan sharks waited for their families to pay up what was owed, which ranged from RM1,500 to RM4,000.
May 11, 2009
A three-year-old boy was kidnapped in Perak after his relative failed to repay his debt of RM300,000 to loan sharks. His body was found fl oating in a river a few days after he went missing.
May 7, 2009
An 86-year-old-woman was killed after two men slammed her head against the wall of her house. The two men were believed to be looking for her son who owed them RM2,000.
April 6, 2009
Sisters Sandra Tung, 16, (right) and Susan, 15, were locked inside their Kuala Lumpur apartment for two hours by loan sharks who also threw kerosene on the door and glued their padlock because their father had borrowed RM5,000, which ballooned to RM87,000. They were rescued by police.
May 2008
Police found body parts strewn on the railway tracks between the Padang Jawa and Bukit Badak stations in Klang. The victim, a 51-year-old businessman, was allegedly kidnapped and killed by Ah Longs after his family was unable to come up with the debt repayment of RM100,000. His original loan was RM30,000.
March 2008
A 51-year-old woman was ambushed by three men, who took turns to sexually assault her in an isolated stairwell near her offi ce. They then lit a bunch of joss sticks and tried to burn her arms, thighs and private parts. She had borrowed RM7,000 from loan sharks but could not repay the sum in full as they demanded.
24-hour deadline for most-wanted Ah Longs
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