KUALA LUMPUR: Hundreds of illegal immigrants were arrested by police in a raid near Selayang market.
In an operation that started at 8am on Thursday, a team of 78 officers and personnel raided two apartment blocks in Jalan 2/3A near the market.
"We are sending them a stern message, we mean business," said a source close to the investigation.
The source said the joint operation by the police, City Hall, United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees and Immigration Department was launched following a series of attacks at a nearby marketplace.
It is expected to be carried out for the next few days.
A foreign man, in his 20s, was injured when he fell from the roof of a four-storey building in a bid to escape the police.
Checks by The Star also found several illegal immigrants hiding in water tanks in their residence.
On Jan 13, a drive-by shooting at the crowded marketplace on Jan 13 which ended with a two-year-old boy being hit by one of the bullets.
Five men in two cars fired randomly at the crowd before speeding off, hitting two people including the boy, who is a Myanmar national at 10pm.
In an unrelated incident, another man was found dead with five stab wounds near the Selayang market only a few hours later, at 3.45am.
ACP Munusamy said witnesses claimed the man was attacked by two men on a motorcycle.
Initial investigation showed the man, 33, had a prior criminal record but was not wanted by police.One of the videos that went viral on Whats App that showed one of the attacks