GEORGE TOWN: A policeman shot dead a man who threatened to stab him with a knife after the former attempted to stop a quarrel between the latter and another man here today.
The dead man was identified as T. Shanmugasundram, 41, of Klang, Selangor, who had a criminal record of 15 cases including possession of drugs, housebreaking and motorcycle theft.
North East District Police chief ACP Che Zaimani Che Awang said that at about 3.10 pm, Shanmugasundram was reported to be quarrelling with a 70-year-old man in the vicinity of Komtar and policemen from the Komtar Police Base went over to stop them.
Shanmugasundram did not heed the police advice and instead went for one of the policemen, chasing him for about 10 metres while brandishing an 18-cm-long knife and threatening to stab him, he said.
The policeman opened fire when Shanmugasundram ignored the repeated police order to drop the knife and seemed to want to stab the policeman, he said, adding that Shanmugasundram died on the spot.
Che Zaimani said the other man said he had not known Shanmugasundram and did not know why he had picked a quarrel with him.
Shanmugasundram’s body was taken to the Penang Hospital.
Traffic congestion built up in the area during the incident as passers-by slowed their vehicles to see what was going on. — Bernama
