ALOR SETAR: Wisma Putra is investigating the reported attack on a bodyguard of a senior member of the Kedah royal family at a Thai resort.
Mohd Faizal Razali, Malaysian consul-general in Songkhla, said his office was gathering information about the reported attack on the Kedah Council of Regency chairman Tan Sri Tunku Annuar Sultan Badilishah’s bodyguard Sobri Mohd Said in Phuket.
“We only learnt about it from the local media. We are trying to gather more information,” Mohd Faizal Razali said.
Sobri was injured in the attack at the Patong Millennium Resort early yesterday morning.
The Sultan of Kedah Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah’s chief private secretary, Datuk Syed Unan Mashri Syed Abdullah, said he was informed of the incident yesterday morning.
He said he was told that only Sobri was injured in the attack.
“So far, I have not received any other details of the incident. Tunku Annuar was in Phuket for a private visit,” he said when contacted.
Tunku Annuar, 74, is the brother of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah.
Syed Unan said Tunku Annuar’s entourage was supposed to return to the country today.
It is learnt that the assailants had mistaken Sobri for Tunku Annuar in the attack which occurred just after midnight.
According to Phuketwan.com, a news site highlighting reports about tourism, restaurants and nightlife in Phuket, Tunku Annuar arrived on the island on May 27 and was photographed being presented with a memorial plaque at the well-known Phuket show, FantaSea, on Wednesday night.
The website also claimed that Sobri had switched rooms with Tunku Annuar after suspecting something was amiss at the resort.
Sobri was said to be walking towards the other room when the assailants pounced on him. They then bound and beat him up before fleeing the scene. He needed several stitches on his head.
It is learnt that the entourage booked 10 rooms at the Patong Millennium Resort.
A Phuket Millennium Resort staff member said the hotel’s operations were not affected by the incident.
“Our management is currently helping the authorities to investigate the incident, so we cannot issue any statements,” said the staff member.
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