Bachok man drowns in bid to escape police raid on river jetty

 

Bachok police chief Ismail Jamaluddin says the man dived from a fisherman’s boat, and is believed to have drowned in his attempt to reach the riverbank. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: A man who dived into a river to escape a police raid at the Pengkalan Petah jetty in Bachok was found drowned yesterday evening.

According to Malay-language daily Utusan, the 38-year-old’s body was found at around 7pm, about 10m from where he dived in.

Bachok police chief Ismail Jamaluddin said police received a call at 4.36pm, saying that a man had escaped the Ops Tapis Se-Malaysia raid by diving into the river.

He said the man had dived from a fisherman’s boat, and was believed to have drowned in his attempt to reach the riverbank.

“A search-and-rescue operation for the man was then initiated with the help of the fire and rescue department and Bachok Civil Defence Force,” he said.

Ismail said checks showed that the man had six criminal records and was in possession of drugs.

He said the body was brought to the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital forensic unit for an autopsy, with the case classified as sudden death.

“In the raid, police also arrested two other suspects at the jetty. Another two were also arrested at the Kemasin jetty area.

“All of the suspects have been brought to the Bachok police headquarters for further action,” he said. - FMT