PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Four days of painstaking detective work paid off for a man determined to catch the thief who snatched his girlfriend's handbag.

The man pounced on the suspect near a hotel in Section 16 at about 10.50am on Saturday (May 21), making a citizen's arrest.

He then handed the suspect, 38, to the police.

The thief allegedly snatched the girl's bag after she got off a bus on Jalan 17/2 at about 5pm on May 17.

She later told her boyfriend about the incident. Based on her description of the thief, he scouted areas in the vicinity of the incident for days.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Assistant Commissioner Mohd Zani Che Din said after questioning the suspect, police picked up two suspected accomplices.

"One of them was a 19-year-old broker and the other, 28, was a buyer of stolen items," he said.

The suspect who was handed in has a criminal record and is believed to be responsible for at least 20 other snatch theft cases, ACP Mohd Zani added.

All three suspects will be remanded.

In an unrelated case, eight people in their 20s and 30s were detained in connection with a spate of shoplifting cases in the Klang Valley.

ACP Mohd Zani said police were alerted to a shoplifting incident at a shop in Park Avenue, Damansara, on April 30.

"Three men and two women were recorded on closed-circuit television cameras shoplifting milk, vitamins and cosmetic products totalling about RM2,000 (S$678).

"We later arrested the women and one of the men in Bukit Tinggi, Klang," he said.

In a follow-up operation, a man and four women were picked up at a house in Taman Botanik, Klang.

Checks showed both men had records for theft and one was on the police wanted list.

"We believe the group was involved in at least 15 cases here," said ACP Mohd Zani.