GEORGE TOWN, Sept 16 — A man who ran amok and threatened motorists by brandishing two sickles in an incident along Jalan Bukit Gambir, here last night before escaping into a forest reserve, was arrested by police today.
Timur Laut district police chief ACP Soffian Santong said the Sungai Nibong police station here received a report about the incident at 11pm yesterday before a police team was dispatched to the location.
“The police, with the assistance of the Jalan Perak Fire and Rescue station, found a man brandishing two sickles, but he escaped into the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) recreational forest reserve in Jalan Bukit Gambir.
“The team continued to track down the man but stopped at around 2am due to the dark conditions and risk posed to the team,” he said, adding that the search continued at 10am today using a four-wheel drive vehicle, and the suspect was located within 10 minutes.
Soffian said the police warned the man to surrender himself but he reacted in an aggressive manner and ran to the direction of the main road and harassed motorists and residents there. He was finally arrested at 11.40am, with the sickles seized.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the 53-year-old man possessed 10 criminal records, including drug-related offences. He also tested positive for heroin and the cause and motive of his actions are still being investigated,” he said.
He added that the man had been referred to the hospital for treatment and mental health assessment, and placed under remand for investigation under Section 6(1) of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958. — Bernama
