Convenience store chain robbed 671 times in five years

Contrary to the police’s claim that the crime rate in the country has gone down, a 24-hour convenience store chain has said its branches nationwide have been robbed and their goods stolen 671 times in the past five years, incurring a total loss of over RM1 million.

KK Supermart Holdings Sdn Bhd, which owns the 127 KK convenience stores in the peninsula, called a press conference yesterday in Kuala Lumpur to reveal the shocking statistics.

According to reports in all major Chinese newspapers today, KK Supermart general manager Hooi Weng Kheong said on average there were 134 cases every year and 11 cases every month since 2008, resulting in total losses of RM1,076,000.

Half of the crime cases were robbery, he said, and the number of cases has increased commensurately with the expansion of branches.

The number of crimes has significantly increased by 200 percent in 2012, from 144 cases in 2011 to 431 cases as of Dec 18 this year, revealed Hooi.

Out of these cases, the police only managed to arrest the perpetrators in 30 cases, he said.

The ‘hot spots’ identified by the company include Wangsa Maju, Jalan Ipoh, Bandar Tun Razak, Puchong and Serdang.

Branches in the Serdang area top the list after being robbed over 20 times within the past two months, while branches in Bandar Tun Razak and Setapak have also been robbed 15 times respectively this year alone.

According to Hooi, 20 of his staff members were hurt in the past five years, and two of them were hospitalised due to severe injuries.

The company has since sought the assistance of police, which have deployed its personnel in disguise as store employees to nab the criminals.

This step was proven effective when the undercover policemen managed to thwart a robbery on Monday at a KK branch located in Setapak. One of the two robbers was shot dead during the robbery.

KK Supermart also set up its own security team to patrol the branches, added Hooi.