KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN police have a video recording of four suspects in the armed robbery at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as their getaway cars stopped at a toll plaza, a private television channel said yesterday.

The video grabs raised hopes for the police in their investigation of Wednesday evening's robbery, TV3 said in its main news bulletin.

The video was obtained from the operator of the toll plaza, TV3 said, without giving further details.

The two moneychangers, an armed escort, an off-duty policeman and a Nepali man who was in the vicinity were injured in the shooting.

The off-duty cop fired back.

Investigators found 40 spent shells in the area. The 7.30pm robbery lasted less than five minutes and the robbers fled in two cars.

The police were stumped when told earlier that there was no video footage of the incident because a KLIA closed-circuit camera was not working at the time.

This would have been a major blow to investigations, although police managed to get photofits of some of the six suspects.

It was learnt that police have sketched out at least three of the six suspects, including a woman, based on descriptions given by witnesses including KLIA workers.

'We will not release the photofits to the media or the public just yet. It is for investigation purposes,' Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters.

'We also do not rule out the possibility of an inside job, but we have to get statements from all victims who were seriously wounded in the incident.'

He told The Straits Times later that none of the victims was Singaporean.

A newspaper report had said that one of the men who was shot was a moneychanger who came from Singapore.

More details have emerged about the robbery.

Police found that an off-duty policeman, initially thought to have been caught in the crossfire, had exchanged fire with the robbers.

He was hit twice and his police-issued pistol was taken by the gunmen, raising questions of whether he was working part-time as a security guard.

It is believed that the gunmen are Indians as they were said to be of dark complexion and shouted instructions in Tamil. Police are pulling out files on Indian gangs linked to similar robberies in the past, newspaper reports say.

Director of the Crime Investigations Department Mohamad Bakri Zinin said: 'We believe that at least two of the gunmen were injured in the shoot-out.

'We are on the lookout for those seeking treatment for gunshot wounds.'

Some reports said the S$1.5 million was meant to be handed to two Singaporean businessmen, who are suspected of attempting to transport the money out of the airport to Singapore.

The robbery has highlighted the country's worsening crime situation and raised questions about airport security.

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said yesterday that his ministry will meet police and Malaysia Airports Holdings, which manages the airport, in an effort to beef up security.

'The robbery was planned, and we concede that the incident should not have occurred,' he said.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, BERNAMA AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS

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