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PETALING JAYA - When caught, pull out knives and fight your way out - that seems to be the strategy of shoplifting racket members.

Mydin Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin said a female worker who confronted a group of shoplifters froze when one of them flashed a knife at her.

The group escaped with the stolen items after the threat.

"We have told our staff not to try to stop these thieves because they tend to become violent and assault people."

He said some of the incidents showing Mydin staff being beaten up and kicked by suspected syndicate members have even been posted on YouTube.

Ameer said the company had lodged reports of all the cases and handed over CCTV footages to the police.

KK Group founder and chairman Datuk Dr Chai Kee Kan said: "If we manage to catch them, we will hand them over to the police. Sometimes they get away, so we plaster pictures of their faces at all our stores to deter them from coming back."

He admitted the CCTVs might be a deterrent for small-time criminals but not to the hardcore ones.

"They know where the CCTVs are and position themselves in such a way that their actions are not immediately noticeable," he said adding that he had also received reports of the same gang hitting stores at different places on different days.

Malaysian Retailer-Chains Association president Datuk Nelson Kwok said members have reported five cases of violence or attempted violence involving shoplifters so far this year compared with three cases last year.

Police said they do not categorise violence in supermarkets or hypermarkets separately but classify such cases as "causing hurt" or "causing grievous hurt" cases.