KUCHING: Two men who were picked up by police over the recent killing of a soldier were hunting illegally in the Song district when the incident occurred on Monday.
Sarawak police commissioner Comm Datuk Mancha Ata said the suspects, both 31, were picked up in Song at 6pm on Tuesday by a special investigation team. A shotgun and cartridges were also seized.
“Both suspects were found to have been hunting illegally.
“One of them fired a shot towards the victim who was mistaken for a wild animal,” he told a press conference at state police headquarters here yesterday.
Comm Mancha said the licensed shotgun belonged to the father of one of the suspects, but the suspect did not have a licence.
He said the case was being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
In the incident, Kpl Petrus Linggi Liman, 29, was on a training exercise in the forest near Jalan Multipass Link in Song when he was accidentally shot at 2.45am.
He was shot in the hip and thigh and rushed to Kapit Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7.43am.
“The shot hit his liver and kidney,” said Comm Mancha, adding that police would continue to investigate the incident.
He also urged the public not to speculate on the case.
