Police hunting for murder suspect
SIBU: The police here have set up road blocks to hunt down the murder suspect of an oil palm plantation worker in Rantau Panjang on Friday evening.
Speaking to reporters yesterday morning at Maksak aerobics session at the police headquarters, Sibu police chief ASP Shafie Ismail said the police had identified the suspect as Uli from Indonesia - a countryman of murder victim Sukrani.
He confirmed the 26-year-old man had gone into hiding with another colleague after the murder.
“We sent in a dog unit to search for Uli apart from mounting the road blocks.”
The police chief said Uli had only worked in the plantation for a month.
He said they believed the other colleague with him might not be involved in the killing, as he was merely following Uli to the bedroom of Sukrani before the murder.
“We might need him to be the prime witness.”
The killing was believed to have been sparked by a prank played by 25-year-old Sukrani on Uli by hiding his machete on Friday morning.
Uli was furious as he could not find it the whole morning as he could not work without the machete.
Sukrani told Uli at 2pm he was the one hiding it and where it was hidden.
After Uli found the machete he looked up Sukrani, but failed to meet him, as Sukrani had gone into the plantation to work.
The murder occurred at 6pm when Sukrani returned from work.
Uli stormed in with another colleague and chopped Sukrani with the machete, killing him instantly. Sukrani’s body was taken to the hospital on a lorry by the plantation’s supervisor.