Villagers beat gunman to death

A reporter on his way to an assignment in Kampung
Nihak Nihak about 30 kilometres from Semporna
saw the dead body of an armed man.

SEMPORNA: A man armed with a M16 rifle, believed to have been involved in an ambush which claimed the lives of five policemen at Kampung Sri Jaya, Siminul, Semporna last night, was beaten to death by a group of Kampung Senallang Lama villagers here.

The man has yet to be identified.

In the 7 am incident this morning, a big-sized man in his 50s, dressed in black and armed with a M16 rifle climbed down a hill and let off a few shots in the direction of the village.

Villager Abdul Hani Samaullah, 44, told Bernama that the man pierced the early morning calm by shouting,” I’m the one who shot the police last night.”

“The man then kicked open the doors of the houses and ordered the villagers to gather at a vacant area,” said Abdul Hani, who was also in the frightened group of people.

He said the villagers attacked the man when he squatted down to light a cigarette and put down his rifle.

The man was beaten to death and his body placed under a tree in the village.

A Bernama reporter on his way to cover the opening of a new bridge by Rural and Regional Development Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal in Kampung Nihak Nihak, about 30 kilometres away at 8.30 am, managed to see the body of the man whose head was covered in blood.

The villagers were seen packing their clothes and vacating their homes for the safety of neighbouring villages.

Most of the residents were farmers and oil palm planters.

Attempts to contact Semporna police chief DSP Mohd Firdaus Francis Abdullah for further information were unsuccessful.

- Bernama