SEREMBAN: Ten former members of Gang Kabali were sentenced to serve 18 months in jail each by the High Court here after they pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of being members of an unlawful society.
However, they will not have to go back to prison after judge Datuk Azizul Adnan ordered the sentences to be served from the time of their arrest three years ago.
S. Ilangovan, 43, K. Sarugunan, 41, R. Kunasekaran, 34, G. Ravikumar 30, L. Navinraj, 29, G. Kartik 28, R. Kamal Rajh, 28, S. Sivabalan, 26, R. Jeevanraj, 25 and S. Viven 23, were arrested during a police operation in late 2019.
They have been under remand since then.
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The 10 were slapped with an alternative charge under Section 43 of the Societies Act 1966 which carries a jail term of up to three years or to a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or both upon conviction.
They were accused of committing the offence at a lane along Jalan Batu 12½, Jalan Rantau-Siliau near here between Feb 1 and Nov 27, 2019.
The court also ordered another accused, S. Subramaniam 53, to pay a fine of RM3,000 for the same offence.
However, Justice Azizul said the accused would not have to pay the fine as he had been under remand for 463 days.
The 11 were initially charged under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code for being members of an organised criminal group, which carries a maximum imprisonment of 20 years upon conviction.
However, they claimed trial to the charge.
The accused were represented separately by Muniandy Vestanathan, Muhammad Afiq Yahawa, S. Karthigesan, Paul Krishna Raja, Sukhdave Singh and James Thanjong Tuan.
Muniandy, who represented five of the accused, asked the court in mitigation to consider granting them a good behaviour bond as they had already been under police custody for three years.
He said although 40 witnesses including investigating officers had testified earlier, there was no evidence to prove that any of the accused were involved in any robbery, apart from being members of the group.
The accused, especially the younger ones, should be given a chance to turn over a new leaf, he added.
Krishna Raja, who represented brothers Kartik and Ravikumar, said since the accused had already pleaded guilty, the court should consider imposing half the sentence provided under Section 43 of the Societies Act.
"This means they should not serve more than 18 months in jail from the day of their arrest," he said.
Sukhdave, who represented Navinraj, also pleaded for a minimum sentence as the accused was remorseful and had saved the court's time by pleading guilty.
Deputy public prosecutor Shafiq Hasim said although the accused had pleaded guilty to the alternative charge, the court should view the entire case before passing sentence.
"They were first charged under Section 130V of the Penal Code which includes the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) related provisions, which are serious.
"In sentencing, the court must give priority to public interest," he said, adding that the punishment meted out should also serve as a lesson to the accused and would-be offenders.
In November and December 2019, police arrested 19 members of the group for alleged involvement in at least 65 armed robberies in Negri Sembilan and the Klang Valley.
The suspects, aged between 18 and 50, were arrested under Ops Kelawar for alleged involvement in organised crime.
Police believed they were responsible for 50 armed robberies in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, and 15 in Negri Sembilan, involving almost RM1mil.
Their alleged targets were moneychangers and households.
