JITRA – An armed man, who was suspected of being a criminal, was shot dead in a firefight with police at Jalan Bukit Kechil in Napoh, near here, yesterday.
Kedah police chief Datuk Fisol Salleh said in the incident at 5.30pm yesterday, a team from Division D9 of the Kedah Criminal Investigation Department, who were carrying out a patrol under Op Laras, spotted the man behaving suspiciously in a car.
He said the suspect initially refused to stop, but as his car veered to the left of the road, he stopped before firing two shots.
“Police then returned fire in self-defence and killed the 57-year-old man.
“On inspection of the suspect’s car, we found two pistols and a sizeable quantity of ammunition, specifically 100 rounds of 9-mm bullets and 100 rounds of .38 mm. We also found 5.56 bullets used for rifles like M-16,” he said at the scene last night.
According to Fisol, preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, who is a local, has four criminal records for drugs and fake firearms.
Fisol said the case is being investigated under Section 307 of the Penal Code and Section 8 of the Firearms Act 1960.
He added that the location of the shootout was on a quiet road that was less travelled by commuters.
He said police would carry out further investigations to see if the suspect was involved with any crime syndicate.
According to him, the suspect’s body was sent to Jitra Hospital for an autopsy. – February 17, 2024