MACHANG: A suspected cattle rustler was shot dead after a 33-year-old man attacked a police patrol with a sharp weapon in Kampung Joh, Labok, early Monday (Sept 25) morning.
Kelantan deputy police chief DCP Mohd Ali Tamby said in the 4.30 am incident, a patrol car on duty from the Machang district police headquarters (IPD) received a public complaint that there was a suspicious white Toyota Vios at Kampung Joh in Labok, Machang.
"The police patrol which rushed to the location came across a car driven by two men.
"Aware of the police presence, the car sped away and was chased along Machang road towards Kota Bharu while the police patrol used a loudhailer calling for the suspects to stop,” he said today.
Mohd Ali said during the pursuit, the suspect’s car and the police patrol vehicle collided several times before the suspect's runaway car skidded to a halt on the road shoulder in Kampung Labok.
"When the officers in the patrol car alighted to apprehend the suspects, the driver of the car emerged to attack one of the policemen with a knife, prompting police to holler a warning before firing several shots at the suspect’s legs in self-defence, but the man jumped into the patrol car and fled towards Kota Baru," he said, adding that the accomplice, a 43-year-old man, was arrested at the scene.
"However, some four kilometres from the incident site in the Pulai Chondong area, the suspect was found slumped dead in the driver’s seat, and his body was subsequently sent to Machang Hospital for an autopsy,” Mohd Ali said.
He said the dead suspect was from Pengkalan Chepa and had several criminal records.
He said before the incident, the suspects were involved in cattle theft at Kampung Joh in Labok, where a cow was slaughtered.
"An inspection of the suspect’s vehicle found equipment for stealing cattle such as ropes, a syringe apparently containing an anaesthetic, a machete, a knife, a sharpener and identification documents belonging to a man with an address in Sungai Besar, Selangor, were also seized.
"The case is being investigated under sections 307, 379, 379A, 186 of the Penal Code and 42(1) APJ,” he said.- Bernama
