TAWAU – An estate supervisor was found dead by the roadside near an oil palm plantation at Batu 12, Jalan Sin Onn Tiku here yesterday, believed to have been killed by a co-worker suffering from a mental illness.
Tawau district police chief Peter Umbuas said the victim, an Indonesian man, 57, had four stab wounds, three on the head and one on the back.
He said in the 1pm incident, the victim was attacked by the male suspect, 31, with a machete while they were travelling on a motorcycle.
“The motive of the killing is still unclear as the two were good friends and had never fought,” he told a press conference here today.
Peter said police have seized the murder weapon – a 50cm-long machete – adding that members of the public detained the suspect about 300m from the scene and handed him over to police about 4pm.
He said the suspect, an Indonesian illegal immigrant who had just started work at the plantation two months ago, has been remanded for 14 days from yesterday.
In another development, Peter said police arrested a man and seized 60 bitcoin-mining machines in two raids between 1.30pm and 2pm at a shophouse area in Bandar Sri Indah here yesterday.
“In the first raid involving SESB (Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd) and the Tawau Municipal Council, police seized 40 bitcoin-mining machines and a computer unit, but no arrests were made,” he said.
He said police raided another premises, seized 20 mining machines and arresting a tenant, 38, who admitted he had been stealing electricity for bitcoin-mining activities since December last year.
According to Peter, electricity theft for bitcoin mining at the two premises had caused SESB to suffer losses of RM31,084 in the past three months, and the case is being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code. – Bernama, March 10, 2021
