10 ex-Kabali gang members sentenced to 18 months' jail

SEREMBAN: The High Court here today sentenced 10 former members of the 'Kabali Gang' to 18 months in prison for being members of an unlawful society.

Judge Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan meted out the sentence against K. Sarugunan, 41; R. Kamal Rajh, 28; L. Navinraj, 29; S. Ilangovan, 43; G. Kartik, 28; G. Ravikumar, 30; S. Viven, 23; S. Sivabalan, 26; R. Kunasekaran, 34; and R. Jeevanraj, 25.

They had earlier pleaded guilty to an alternative charge under Section 43 of the Societies Act 1966 for being members of an unlawful society after being originally charged under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code for being members of an organised criminal group.

However, the ten will walk free after the court ordered their sentences to be served from the time of their arrest three years ago, while another accused, S. Subramaniam, 53, was fined RM3,000 for the same offence.

Subramaniam, however, was exempted from paying the fine as he had been under remand for the past 463 days.

According to the charges, all of the accused were members of the Kabali Gang, an illegal organisation, between Feb 1, 2019 until Nov 27, 2019 at Jalan Rantau-Siliau, Rantau.

It was reported previously that police had crippled a violent organised criminal group known as 'Geng Kabali' after arresting 19 of its members, including its leader in an operation carried out in November and December of 2019.

Police said the group was responsible for robbing money changers and homes in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.

A total of 65 cases were recorded in 2019, with 50 cases in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur while the other 15 were in Negri Sembilan, police were reported to have said.

-- BERNAMA