Police killed two foreign suspects in a shootout at about 8:40 p.m. on August 7 during an operation to rescue two kidnapping victims in Taman Amira, Telaga Bata, Alor Star, Kedah [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The victims, a man in his 70s and a woman in her 30s, were found blindfolded and handcuffed inside the house [1, 3, 4, 5].
The operation was conducted by the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department Special Investigation Division (D9) [4]. Police recovered two firearms near the suspects: a Beretta semi-automatic pistol loaded with five bullets and a revolver with four bullets, along with a long parang (machete) [1, 4]. No identification documents were found on the two suspects killed in the shootout [1, 4].
Datuk M. Kumar described the raid, saying, "The raiding team returned fire in self-defence until the threat was neutralised" [4]. Six suspects aged from their 20s to 40s have been arrested across Kedah, Penang, and Kuala Lumpur, including a Malaysian man, four foreign men, and a foreign woman, all detained to assist in the investigation [1, 3, 4, 5].
An application for their remand was made on August 8 under Section 12 of the Kidnapping Act 1961, with the case investigated under Section 3(1) covering kidnapping for ransom [1, 3, 4, 5]. The suspects were remanded for seven days, from August 8 until August 14 [3, 5].
Resident Ooi said, "We never expected something like this to happen. Everyone was shocked" [2]. Police plan to hold a press conference on the case on August 10 [1, 4].
