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Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Cops shoot sword-wielding duo outside PM’s office

KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — Police opened fire on a sword-wielding duo outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya after the two began menacing security personnel with the weapons, The Star reported on its website today.

The man and woman were hit in the arm and leg, respectively, and were later taken to the Putrajaya Hospital.

Later identified as Khalil Afandi Hamid, the 47-year-old jobless man has since died of his injury.

The woman, reportedly a 28-year-old former International Islamic University student and mother-of-two, is in stable condition.

According to witnesses, the two approached the PM’s Office complex around 2.30pm while brandishing what were described as katanas, commonly called “samurai swords”.

They then began brandishing the katanas in a threatening manner and became increasingly aggressive.

A police team at a nearby location that responded to the couple’s presence then tried to pacify the duo but were later forced to draw their guns and open fire on the two.

“The armed man trained the sword at the neck of the policeman before the duo entered the premises and began slashing the windscreen of two cars belonging to employees of the Prime Minister's Department,” Putrajaya police chief ACP Abdul Razak Abdul Majid said in a press conference today.

“At that juncture, a member of the patrol unit fired three shots which hit Khalil Afandi's right hand and abdomen while the woman sustained a gunshot wound in the right leg,” he said.

Initial investigations revealed that Khalil Afandi, who is survived by a son, had professed to be “Imam Mahdi” — a prophesied “redeemer” whose appearance heralds the coming of Judgment Day.

Police are still gathering further details on the incident. The couple’s motives have also not been ascertained.

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