KOTA KINABALU – One of two suspects wanted by the police over a brawl that resulted in a death at a restaurant in Beaufort last week has been arrested.
According to Harian Metro, Kesavan Perembalan, 34, was nabbed by the police last night.
It is understood that the Beaufort district police chief will hold a press conference this afternoon at the district headquarters on this matter.
The police are still looking for Hobalan N. Vello, also known as Jimmy Black, the main suspect in the case, to facilitate investigations.
In the incident last Friday, a man sustained serious injuries after being attacked with a machete, while another was also injured on the head after he was struck by what is suspected to be a belt buckle.
The seriously hurt victim in his 50s was pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital here yesterday morning.
Preliminary police investigations found that the fight broke out after a customer, who came with three friends to buy liquor, quarrelled with the restaurant owner.
It was reported yesterday that the deceased was Albert Requel Agang, a Murut native chief.
State police commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali had said yesterday that the case involved a group of men who were already intoxicated after attending a wedding at the Sabah Railway Department staff quarters, not far from the MyHeaven Restaurant, belonging to the main suspect.
After police recorded all their statements, it was clear the brawl was started by the group, he said.
“They have also admitted to having gone together to the suspect’s restaurant and created trouble by breaking chairs and tables in the joint,” he said, adding that they were unhappy with the owner when they tried to purchase more alcoholic beverages there.
“They also picked a fight with a diner at the entrance before coming in to buy more alcoholic beverages,” he said.
The suspect was said to be unhappy with their presence in his joint, said Hazani, based on an admission by the main suspect’s friend, who had run to the police station to alert the officers on the night of the incident.
Hazani said Hobalan, allegedly linked to gang activity in the past, was cleared from undergoing surveillance in 2008, and has since married a local Dusun woman from Keningau. They have five children.
“There had been no new cases opened against Hobalan since 2008 until the date of incident,” he said.
The police are investigating the case under Section 148 and 302 of the Penal Code for armed rioting resulting in death. – The Vibes, December 23, 2020
