LARUT: Police shot dead a man who attempted to slash policemen in an incident at a fruit orchard hut in Kampung Klian Gunung Ijok, Batu Kurau near here on Sunday (Aug 2).
Perak police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin said the 39-year-old local man was believed to have been involved in an incident in which two policemen from the Narcotics Criminal Investigation Division of the Selama district police headquarters were injured on June 23.
He said following the incident, police managed to track down the suspect, who was also a drug addict, hiding in a hut after receiving information from the public at 8.20am Sunday.
“When police arrived at the hut, they tried to approach the suspect to arrest him, but he got up, grabbed a parang and tried to attack and slash them, threatening their safety.
“To defend themselves from the threat, police fired one shot at his legs, causing injuries to the suspect’s right and left thighs,” he told a press conference at the Selama district police headquarters here Monday (Aug 3).
Mohd Alwi said the suspect, who collapsed, tried to resist arrest, resulting in a scuffle before police managed to seize the parang he was holding.
However, he said the suspect was confirmed dead by a medical team that arrived at the scene at 9.20am.
“A post-mortem on the suspect is still being carried out by a pathologist at Taiping Hospital and the result has yet to be obtained,” he said, adding that the suspect, who did odd jobs in the village, had 10 previous offences involving crime and drug-related cases.
Previously, Comm Mohd Alwi was reported as saying that two policemen were injured after a scuffle with a man believed to be a drug addict in an incident at Kampung Sungai Jernih, Ijok near Selama on June 23.
He said in the incident, two policemen — a 44-year-old sergeant and a 27-year-old constable — suffered injuries during the scuffle with the suspect.
Asked about the condition of the policemen, Comm Mohd Alwi said both had been discharged from hospital after receiving treatment and had returned to duty since last week. — Bernama
