Sarawak police commissioner Comm Datuk Mancha Ata (right) speaking to reporters at state police headquarters in Kuching. - ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star
KUCHING: Police have arrested two men in connection with the killing of a soldier during a hunting expedition in Song district on Monday (Sept 23).
Sarawak police commissioner Comm Datuk Mancha Ata said the suspects, both 31, were detained in Song at 6pm on Tuesday (Sept 24) by a special investigation team.
Police also seized a shotgun and cartridges.
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"Both suspects were found to have been hunting illegally.
"One of them fired a shot towards the victim after mistaking him for a wild animal," he told a press conference at state police headquarters here on Wednesday (Sept 25).
Comm Mancha said the licensed shotgun belonged to the father of one of the suspects, but the suspect himself did not have a licence.
Both suspects will be brought to court to be remanded on Wednesday, he added.
The case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
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Petrus Linggi Liman, 29, was on a field training exercise in the forest near Jalan Multipass Link when he was accidentally shot at 2.45am.
The corporal was hit in the hip and thigh and rushed to Hospital Kapit, where he was pronounced dead at 7.43am.
Police received a report of the incident at about 6am.
Comm Mancha said a post-mortem determined the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the left side of the victim's back.
"The shot hit his liver and a kidney," he said.
He also urged the public not to speculate on the case.
