Menggatal murder: Two foreigners detained

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KOTA KINABALU: Police have detained two men in connection with the murder of a man from Sandakan whose body was found in a roadside bushes in Menggatal on Thursday.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the suspects, both foreigners aged 21 and 27, were arrested by the police in Menggatal on Saturday (August 24).

“The suspects will be remanded for a week to facilitate police investigation.

“Police also believe both men are the main suspects in this case and with their arrest, police believe they have solved this case,” he said at a press conference at the state police headquarters in Kepayan here yesterday.

Also present at the press conference were State Deputy Commissioner of Police Acting DCP Datuk Abdul Malek Haji Harun, deputy CID chief ACP Mohd Shariff Abd Wahid and city police chief ACP Jauteh Dikun.

The body of Ibnu Paharan, 29, believed to be an unlicensed taxi driver from Kampung Muhibbah, Sandakan was found with both his hands and legs tied with ropes and his mouth stuffed with a cloth in a roadside bushes near Kampung Binaung Baru in Menggatal on August 22.

The police made the discovery around 7am, a couple of hours after the vehicle driven by the victim was found abandoned some 50 meters away from the scene.

They were earlier informed of an abandoned Toyota Unser near a water tank in the area.

The vehicle was then taken to the Menggatal police station and record showed that the owner is the victim’s nephew, who lives in Sandakan.

According to police investigation, the nephew told police that the victim had borrowed the Toyota Unser on Wednesday to send his auntie to Kota Kinabalu from Sandakan.

The police then went back to the location where the vehicle was found abandoned for further investigation and found the victim’s body.

They also found several wounds on the victim’s neck and head, believed to be inflicted with a sharp object.

Hamza said based on police investigation they believed revenge was the motive of the killing.

“Police also believe the victim and suspects were acquaintances and the motive of the killing was revenge.

“The suspects will be detained for a week beginning August 24, and will be charged in court soon with murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hamza witnessed the handing over of duties from State Deputy Commissioner of Police SAC II Datuk Tan Kok Liang to his successor Abdul Malek at the state police headquarters in Kepayan here yesterday.