PGA7 member dragged by vehicle driven by smugglers

KOTA BHARU: A member of the 7th Battalion of the General Operations Force (PGA7) Kuantan, Pahang, almost died when he was dragged for almost 100 metres by a vehicle suspected of being driven by a smuggler headed to a neighbouring country with cooking oil and wheat flour.

Kelantan police chief DCP Shafien Mamat said the incident happened at about 4 am in Lubuk Setol, near Rantau Panjang in Pasir Mas, near here, last Friday.

He said the incident happened when the 30-year-old corporal and his colleague were patrolling the Malaysia-Thailand border area and came across two four-wheel drives which they became suspicious of.

"The officers instructed the driver (of the vehicle) to stop for inspection.

"But when the PGA7 personnel tried to interrogate the driver of the Mitsubishi Pajero vehicle, he (suspected smuggler) accelerated resulting in the officer clinging on to the driver's side of the vehicle and being dragged for almost 100 metres," Shafien said at a press conference at the Kelantan police contingent headquarters here, today.

The officer received outpatient treatment at the Pasir Mas Hospital for scratches and bruises on his limbs.

Meanwhile, Shafien said, the other four-wheel drive, an Isuzu Trooper, eluded them.

However, he said a 26-year-old man was arrested in Lubuk Setol at about 10.45 pm on the same day and has admitted to being involved in the incident in which the PGA7 personnel was dragged.

"Police also managed to arrest two more men, aged 40 and 45, noon today," he said, adding that his team was also tracking down two other suspects, aged between 22 and 37 years old.

-- BERNAMA