( dpa ) - Malaysian police have arrested three men believed to be responsible for the recent spate of robberies targeting taxi drivers after a high-speed car chase in the capital Kuala Lumpur, news reports said Thursday.
The suspects - two locals and a Bangladeshi - had just robbed a taxi driver of his car and tied him to a tree in a rubber estate nearby, when they were approached by a police patrol alerted by their suspicious behaviour in the taxi.
The men, aged 26, 37 and 42 years, attempted to shake-off the police in a 10-kilometre car chase Tuesday night which ended with their arrest when they lost control of the vehicle, said district police chief Sofian Mohamad Yassin.
"They tried to flee on foot into a nearby jungle but were caught after a brief struggle," Sofian was quoted as saying by the Star daily.
Police also seized a machete, a balaclava, a wallet containing two identity cards and two mobile phones believed to belong to the victims.
Sofian said the suspects have since confessed to robbing the 37-year-old taxi driver, adding that one of them had eight previous records for various drug offences.
He also revealed that further investigations have led to the recovery of another taxi believed to have been stolen at a wholesale market.
Police are also trying to ascertain whether the three men were linked to a recent armed robbery here where two men slashed a taxi driver before fleeing in his vehicle.