Four men were arrested and police seized 60 computers used to mine the crypto currency in the incident last night.

Kedah police chief Kamarul Zaman Mamat said police had received information from the public about a power outage and a possible fire in Taman Flora, which was suspected to be due to excessive electricity consumption by a house in the area.

He said residents had contacted TNB because of a small fire in the house. They had tried to put out the fire but the house was locked.

“Police went to the location at 11pm after TNB informed us that they had cut off the electric supply to the house because they were worried that there was going to be a bigger fire,” he said, according to a Bernama report.

Upon arrival, Kamarul Zaman said police found all the windows closed and the doors locked, and added that there were sparks coming out from the electrical wires outside the house.

He said police broke into the house, made an inspection and found four men aged 16 to 41 hiding in the upper floor of the house.

“Further inspection found bitcoin mining machines installed on the ground floor of the house. Police confiscated 60 computers, including a network hub unit,” he said.

Kamarul Zaman said all the suspects will be remanded for three days starting today and the case is being investigated under Section 379/427 of the Penal Code.