KOTA KINABALU: Simmering bad blood between two village buddies from a fight during a wedding ceremony seven years ago ended on Thursday (May 26) with one of them suffering severe head injury from a blow of a machete.
The 26-year-old victim who spotted his "buddy" in the town area decided to confront him but the situation turned against him when his "buddy" whipped out a parang to attack him outside a hotel in the Langkon Commercial Centre at about 6.30pm on Thursday (May 26).
Kota Marudu district police chief Supt Zairolnizal Ishak said that police were now after the 35-year-suspect who fled the scene in a car whose licence plates were false.
However, he said the victim was in a stable condition and was being treated at the hospital.
Relating the incident, he said the victim was at a restaurant when he spotted and decided to confront the suspect.
However, the suspect pulled out a parang from his car and began to chase the victim.
"As soon as he arrived in front of a hotel in the business centre, the suspect allegedly cracked the victim's head with the parang," he said, adding that the victim's cousin who was also at the scene managed to snatch the parang from the suspect and stopped the fight.
Supt Zairolnizal said preliminary police investigations showed that the victim was holding grudge against the suspect who allegedly beat him up during a wedding in Kampung Ranau (within Kota Marudu district) in 2015.
He said the victim and the suspect knew each other well as they grew up in the same village.
Supt Zairolnizal said they were looking for a man known as Ramlie Awang, from Kampung Labuan in Kota Belud to assist in their investigations.
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