TAWAU: Police have arrested three men suspected of being involved in an assault case in which a man was beaten with a belt and threatened with a samurai sword during a brawl at T2@Apas Takada, recently.
Tawau Acting District Police Chief Supt Champin Piuh said the arrests, made on Monday, followed investigations into two other suspects earlier detained by the District Criminal Investigation Division (BSJD).
He said the three local men, aged between 30 and 38, were nabbed around 2pm at several shop premises in the Ba Zhong Commercial Centre area.
Their arrests brought the total number of suspects detained in connection with the case to five.
The incident, which occurred at about 12.30am on Oct 11, in front of a snooker premises at the T2 Takada building area, left a 32-year-old man with injuries to his left cheek and back.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the victim was approached by about eight unknown men armed with belts and samurai swords before being assaulted for no apparent reason,” said Champin, Tuesday.
He said the earlier arrests of two other suspects, aged 22 and 23, were made on Oct 15 and one of them was found to have no valid identification documents.
“One of the newly-arrested suspects is a State civil servant, while two others have prior records, including serious criminal and drug-related offences,” he said.
“All the suspects are currently under remand to assist further investigations, and appropriate action will be taken in accordance with existing laws,” he added.
The case is being investigated under Section 324 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means, while the undocumented suspect is being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.