[ad_1]
KUALA LUMPUR: Two General Operations Force (GOF) personnel were only armed with pistols when they ran into smugglers early Tuesday (Nov 24), leading to the fatal shooting of Corporal Baharuddin Ramli, says Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador.
The Inspector General of Police said the two men only had their pistols as it was a data collection mission and that a patrol team would have been armed with rifles.
He explained that normally the team would radio for backup or return to their post for help, but then the shooting broke out.
“Despite the dark conditions, they managed to wound their attackers. Corporal Baharuddin, who had been shot, crawled over to Corporal Norihan Tari and told him to seek help.
Corporal Norihan rushed back to his post on his motorcycle and collapsed just as he reached, honking his horn for help.
“He is stable despite being shot three times, twice in the stomach. I managed to talk to him before he was taken for surgery, ”he said.
The IGP said that a team of VAT 69 commandos who were in the area were dispatched to the scene to locate the suspects.
“A Thai suspect was found around 7 am and confessed to being part of the shooting.
“The police also carried out mass arrests of known members of smuggling groups, and we have identified three Malaysians who were involved.
“Smugglers were carrying ketum leaves and cough medicine prepared by their Malaysian counterparts at the time of the shooting,” he said during a special press conference in Bukit Aman on Tuesday (November 24).
Six suspects linked to the shooting have so far been arrested, the IGP confirmed, four of whom were arrested by Thai authorities in the kingdom.
Investigations showed that smugglers from Thailand would trade syabu, heroin and other drugs for ketum leaves and cough medicine in exchange.
On Tuesday morning, there was a shootout with suspected smugglers on the Malaysian-Thai border in Perlis.
Corporal Baharuddin died at the scene, while Corporal Norihan was seriously injured and sent to Tuanku Fauziah Hospital in Kangar.
[ad_2]
