SEREMBAN, MALAYSIA - A group of parang-wielding robbers carted away over RM1 million (S$400,000) worth of metal rods and pieces from a factory-cum-warehouse in an industrial area in Nilai.

Twelve armed men drove into the lot in Arab-Malaysian Industrial Park in two lorries and several cars at 1am. On the pretext of delivering goods to the warehouse, the lorry drivers convinced the three security guards to let them into the compound.

Once inside, several of the men, all wearing ski-masks, tied and gagged the security guards.

The group then loaded the items, said to be busbar - thick pieces of copper or aluminium used as electrical conductors in TNB sub stations - produced by the factory into the two lorries before fleeing the scene.

It is learnt that the factory is also a main supplier of silver and copper items to TNB.

The three security guards were freed by their colleagues who arrived for their morning shift five hours later.

The guards alerted the factory manager who lodged a police report at the Nilai police station.

State CID chief Asst Comm Mohd Zaki Masroh said police were looking for at least eight men in their 20s and 30s, who were suspected to have been involved in similar incidents throughout Seremban and elsewhere in the Klang Valley.

--The Star/ANN