Administrative staff at the registered premises of the crisis-ridden National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) were shocked to find today that two of their offices had been burgled over the weekend.

They discovered at 9am that the locks on the back doors had been broken. Preliminary checks revealed that a central processing unit (CPU) was missing from the head office, while cash had been taken from the Kuala Lumpur branch office.

The NUBE headquarters and its Kuala Lumpur branch are on separate floors of the same building in Jalan Ampang.

Expressing shock, administrative executive A Karuna said nothing of value had been taken.

"I don't see reason for any burglar to leave behind valuables such as 11 computers, five printers, a hi-fi set worth over RM1,000, a photocopier and a 21-inch television set. Only a CPU is missing from our office," she said when met at the headquarters today.

"Documents were strewn all over and removed from their original places in two safes and various files in the filing cabinets and boxes."

She said the burglars had entered the KL branch office on the third floor through the back stairwell.

"The locks on the back doors at all three floors were broken. Some of the drawers were emptied onto desks," she said, adding that separate front and back entrances may have saved the ground floor, housing the NUBE's main office, from being burgled.

A forensic team from the Dang Wangi district police headquarters began dusting the fire-proof safe and other items for fingerprints at around 10am. Police officers at the scene declined to comment.

Specific purpose?

Two factions within the union have been locked in a court battle over the leadership since 2001, while several matters pertaining to allegations of financial mismanagement are pending in court.

Although both factions want fresh polls to end the dispute, administrative and technical legal problems are hampering such efforts.

On Friday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed an application seeking a declaration that the Director-General of Trade Unions is empowered to directly or indirectly call for an election.

Police have recorded a statement from J Solomon, the general secretary of the group led by Abdul Jalil Hamid.

Echoing Karuna's concern about the stolen CPU and some cash, Solomon said the police also asked him if he has any suspects in mind.

"I couldn't think of any names at the time. But it appears that the burglars came for a specific purpose," he said.

He estimated damages to the two safes, the locks on the back doors and the grill to be around RM10,000.

He said security would be tightened following the incident, including installing a closed-circuit television camera and alarm.