Two highly sought criminals shot dead

PASIR PUTEH: Two highly sought criminals were killed in a shootout after they shot and wounded three policemen during a police ambush at Kampung Banggol Telipot here today.
The dead suspects, Hatim Mohd Zain@Mat Hatim and Mohd Hafiz Saupi, both aged 25, were high on the police wanted list for several serious crimes including murder.
A police team made up of members from the Kelantan and Bukit Aman CID had carried out weeks of surveillance on the suspects before setting an ambush at 4am on a house at the village in an operation codenamed Ops Jejak Aman.
It is learnt that on identifying themselves and ordering the suspects to surrender, gunshots rang out from the house.
On seeing three policemen being hit, their colleagues returned fire in self-defence, killing both suspected criminals.
The injured policemen, Inspector Shukri Hassan, suffered a gunshot wound to his left thigh while Corporal Zulkifli Mat Din was shot on his left wrist.
A third policeman, Lance-Corporal Zahari Abd Hamid, was injured in the abdomen after a gunshot grazed his abdomen.
The injured policemen were warded at a hospital and are reported to be in stable condition.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar told theSun the dead suspects were notorious criminals who were involved in drug trafficking and armed robbery.
He said the men were also sought in connection with several murder cases.
For more than a year, the suspects were sought by police mainly for a murder case in Bachok involving a 57-year-old ex-serviceman in August last year.
The victim, Sauti Muda, who worked as a rubber tapper was having lunch with his wife at a restaurant in Pasir Puteh when two men, one armed with a pistol and the other a sword, arrived on a motorcycle before attacking the former soldier.
The victim tried to flee but was chased by the suspects who shot and slashed him repeatedly.