KOTA KINABALU – The man who allegedly killed a Murut native chief and nearly started a racial clash in Beaufort two months ago, surrendered to the police at 11am today.
Hobalan Vello @ Jimmy Black is allegedly linked to criminal syndicates from Peninsular Malaysia.
He is suspected of killing Albert Requel Agang, a Murut native chief in Beaufort, at Vello’s restaurant My Heaven Seafood near Jalan Beaufort Jaya last December.
Vello’s accomplice Kesavan Perembalan had earlier surrendered to the authorities.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali said the 37-year-old suspect surrendered before being arrested by a team from the Crime Investigation Department (D9).
He is being investigated under Section 320 of the Penal Code.
“The suspect will be remanded to assist in the investigation before he can be charged in court for causing a brawl,” he told The Vibes.
Police had launched a manhunt for Vello after a group of intoxicated men that created a ruckus at the restaurant.
Albert was slashed with a machete during the brawl and one of his friends suffered head injuries after being hit by a belt buckle.
Albert died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and his death triggered an uproar among the Murut ethnic group in Beaufort.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan was dragged into the issue, and later called for calm amid rising racial tension.
Albert’s death also triggered concerns among the Dayak group in Pontianak, the capital city of West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Jeffrey, at the time, urged the Sabah government to block the exile of hardened criminals to the state under its special immigration powers.
It was noted that Vello had seven previous criminal records between 2003 and 2004, and was involved with the criminal organisation known as Gang 24 in Klang, Selangor.
He also spent a year in jail in 2007 under the Emergency (Public Order and Crime Prevention) Ordinance (2007). – The Vibes, March 1, 2021
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