Police arrested Le Van Luyen for alleged murder yesterday, after a six-day search in Van Lang District in the northern mountain province of Lang Son.
The 18-year-old has allegedly admitted to killing a couple and their 18-month-old daughter and heavily injuring another daughter while robbing a local gold store in the northern province of Bac Giang on August 24.

Deputy director of Anti-crime Police Department Major-General Do Kim Tuyen said the arrest came as local police had begun a nation-wide manhunt for the suspect, who's house is located in a nearby commune, about two kilometres from the gold shop.

When police first inspected Luyen's house, he had fled, but found a plastic bag containing gold rings, gold chains and gold necklaces from the gold shop, was hidden underground, behind the house.

Police have also detained Luyen's parents Le Van Mien, 42, and Truong Thi Thom, 38, and Luyen's cousin Truong Thanh Hong, 19 for their alleged cover-up of the suspect.

Initial inquiries have found that Hong took Luyen to a local health clinic to treat hand wounds after the latter had killed the gold shop's family on August 24.

Gold shops across Bac Giang Province and in downtown Ha Noi now have tightened security after the botched robbery took place.

"We installed more cameras and locks and upgraded door systems to ensure the safety for both humans and property," said Hoang Thi Minh Thuy, owner of a gold shop in Hang Bac Street in Ha Noi City.

"We always keep our high-value products in safes after 6pm," she said.

Although an alarm system is installed in our bedroom, we never forget to check all doors before going to bed just in case mishaps occur, said another owner of a gold shop in Ha Noi's Dong Da District.

Head of the Ha Noi Police Department's Investigating Social Order Crime Division Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Dao Thanh Hai, said his division instructed owners of gold shops and banks on how to improve security.

"We plan to show gold shop owners and banks ways to install cameras and alarm equipment to prevent heart-breaking accidents like the case in Bac Giang," Hai said.

VNS