Man nabbed for stealing fan and attacking cops

GEORGE TOWN: A 28-year-old man was arrested three days after he slashed two policemen with a kerambit (sickle) over the theft of a wall fan at a clinic.

Police picked him up outside a fast food outlet in Sungai Dua at 2.50am on Tuesday.

They also recovered the stolen fan, the knife said to be used in the attack and a motorcycle from the man who tested positive for morphine.

On Saturday, the man, with six criminal records, put up a struggle when two policemen – a lance corporal and a constable – managed to track him down by the roadside in Jalan Mahsuri, Bayan Baru.

He then slashed them with a sickle before fleeing the scene.

Balik Pulau OCPD Supt A. Anbalagan said the two policemen, who sustained injuries on their right and left arm respectively, were recovering after receiving seven stitches each at Balik Pulau Hospital.

He said the man was believed to have stolen a wall fan from a clinic on Friday night.

“A clinic admin staff lodged a police report, claiming that a man had entered the clinic in Bayan Baru before fleeing with a wall fan.

“The next day, the two policemen managed to track him down and during the confrontation, the man whipped out a kerambit and slashed the policemen before fleeing,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Supt Anbalagan said they reclassified the case from voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servants from carrying out their duty to attempted murder.