Man loses car, fingertip

2005-03-31 08:14

Kuala Lumpur - Hijackers chopped off the tip of a man's finger in Malaysia to override a hi-tech security feature which required his fingerprint to start his luxury car, a report said on Thursday.

Accountant K Kumaran, 29, was walking towards his S-Class Mercedes Benz in a Kuala Lumpur suburb on Monday when he was knocked down from behind by a car, the New Straits Times reported.

"I fell face first and four men armed with parangs (machetes) came out of the car," he was quoted as saying.

"They forced me to hand over my car keys and then asked for my car security card (a keyless alarm system needed to start some Mercedes cars)," he said.

"I told them that my car did not have a security card but a system which requires my fingerprint.

"They forced me to put my finger on the panel and then started the car. They bundled me into the back, between the seats and used my tie to blindfold me," he said.

Kumaran was driven to an unknown location where the carjackers asked two other men whether they could bypass the immobiliser system.

When they said they could not Kumaran was stripped naked and ordered to put his left hand on the ground.

One of the hijackers then used a machete to chop off the tip of Kumaran's index finger.

"I cried out in pain and they pushed me into a drain."

After the men used his chopped-off digit to start the car and sped off, Kumaran removed his blindfold and walked several hundred metres to a highway toll plaza.

Police were called and Kumaran was sent to hospital for treatment.

- AFP