Johor Baru South district police chief Shahurinain Jais said the couple, aged 53 and 49 years respectively, were from Senai, near Kulai. They were arrested on suspicion of stealing 15 tins of baby milk powder of various brands, two bottles of vitamins, and seven boxes of chicken essence.

Shahurinain said a security guard patrolling the car park saw a man hurriedly trying to push a baby stroller into a Proton Perdana car. “The guard then stopped the man and asked to provide the purchase receipt, which the man failed to do so. Further checks found the stolen items in the boot,” he said in a statement here today.

According to Shahurinain, both suspects tried to escape but the husband was caught in the car park while the wife was later detained inside the shopping mall.

He added the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage captured the act of theft by the suspects.

“The footage shows the husband was pretending to push the baby stroller while the wife was in the shop to relocate the stolen items to a place where there was no staff.

“The wife then put the items in the stroller and the husband left the mall to put the stolen goods in the car. The wife left the shop behaving as if she did not want to make a purchase.”

A black stroller was seized. Shahurinain said the couple had revealed that this was the second time they had stolen such items. They claimed to have stolen the goods to sell because they were unemployed.

Shahurinain said the man had previous criminal records related to theft in 2011 and 2013.