The items seized from the suspect.
JULAU: A 57-year-old farmer surrendered himself to the police after he mistakenly shot his distant relative while hunting in a jungle near a fruit orchard at Nanga Ijit here on Sunday.
Julau police chief DSP Ismuni Omar said the suspect who was accompanied by longhouse residents arrived at Julau police station and lodged a report at 5.11pm.
He said in the incident that reportedly happened at 2pm, the suspect was hunting alone when he saw something like an animal eating a jackfruit not far from the orchard.
“He fired a shot using a ‘bakakuk’ (homemade shotgun) and upon checking he found that he had actually shot dead a man.
“He rushed home and asked for help from longhouse residents to send him to the police station to lodge a report,” he said in a statement.
Ismuni said the victim was identified as Junit Ganing, 64, a farmer from Rumah Meluda.
The victim was found motionless, believed dead with three gunshot marks on the left side of his chest and one on his right wrist.
Police initial investigation also found the victim and suspect were distant relatives and their longhouses were located 100 metres apart.
“The suspect admitted that he made the shotgun when he worked at a logging camp in Kapit and it was without permit.
“He had been in possession of the shotgun for four years but rarely used it. He used it mainly to protect his orchard from animals,” Ismuni said.
He added the suspect also confessed that he bought two buckshot bullets from a man at a roadside in Sibu for RM10 each about a year ago.
“The suspect was arrested. The body was taken to Sibu Hospital.
“We also have seized a t-shirt, a pair of long pants, a shotgun and a spent shell inside the weapon from the suspect,” he said.
Police will apply for remand for the suspect after he has undergone swab test.
The case is being investigated under Section 304A of the Penal Code and Section 8 of the Arms Act 1960.
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