KUCHING: An 18-year-old student from Lubok Antu suffered head, facial and neck injuries after he was allegedly tied up with a rope and assaulted before being robbed of his belongings in a van on Saturday.
It was said to have happened after he boarded the van from a location in the city to return to his college at Petra Jaya here around 4pm. Vans are common means of transport to Petra Jaya but it was not immediately known if the van he boarded was a pirate taxi.
According to the victim, there were only three passengers in the van, including himself. After the driver dropped off one of the passengers, he drove towards the State Stadium and stopped behind the building.
The driver and the other passenger then allegedly took out a rope and forcefully tied it around the student’s neck and used an object to hit him on the neck.
He was also allegedly punched on the face by the suspects who then forced him to hand over his Sony mobile phone and RM8 cash.
They later sent him to the college hostel.
A police report on the incident has been lodged at Simpang Tiga police station for further action.
In an unrelated case, a Bangladeshi who works as a general worker at a factory in Demak Laut Industrial, Jalan Bako claimed that a man smashed the windows of seven lorries belonging to the company on Saturday.
In the incident which occurred around 9.45pm, the 28-year-old complainant said the suspect was wandering around the area in a suspicious manner and started to smash both windows of the vehicles after being reproved by him.
He subsequently lodged a police report on the case. The estimated loss is about RM5,000.
Police is investigating.