KOTA TINGGI: A 71-year-old farmer has been charged at the Magistrate’s Court here over a triple murder at a restaurant.
The accused Lim Lian nodded in acknowledgement of the charges when they were read to him in Mandarin before magistrate Nurkhalida Farhana Abu Bakar yesterday.
No plea was recorded, as murder cases are under the purview of the High Court.
Lim was accused of murdering two local men, Wong Poh Soon, 61, and Chen Kwai Hwa, 64, as well as a Vietnamese woman, Tran Thi Trang, 37, at Kedai Chan Fong Moi along Jalan Delima in Taman Kota Jaya at about 1.30pm on April 19.
He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment of up to 40 years and not less than 12 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Eizlan Azhar asked the court to set a mention date within two weeks to allow the prosecution to obtain consent to transfer the case to the High Court.
No bail was offered as the charge is a non-bailable offence.
Magistrate Nurkhalida Farhana fixed May 13 for case mention pending the transfer of the matter to the High Court.
It was reported that the three victims died after being shot with a Benelli M/super shotgun.
The suspect was arrested about 200m from the scene shortly after the incident and was remanded for seven days before being charged.
The police had also confirmed that the accused held a valid firearms licence.
