Heroic bid to reclaim friend’s car ends in tragedy

Published: Friday October 25, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM

JOHOR BARU: A noodle seller’s heroic attempt to fight off thieves and reclaim his friend’s car ended in tragedy when he died of severe head injuries after being pushed out of the vehicle.

Zhu Beng Sheng, 68, was travelling in a car with a female friend on the way to her house in Taman Desa Cemerlang here when they were involved in an accident with another car on Wednesday night.

The woman who refused to be named, said prior to that the two of them had spent an enjoyable evening together.

“We were on the way back to my house and I was driving. I realised that there was a car tailgating us and before I could do anything, there was a loud bang.

“We stopped by the roadside and came out of the car to discuss with the driver of the car that had hit us,” she told reporters when met at the Hospital Sultan Ismail mortuary here yesterday.

However, she said, four men came out of the other car and started to shout at them and insisted that it was her fault.

“As we were arguing about the matter, I noticed two of the men walking towards my car, got into it and started to drive off,” she said.

Noticing that, Zhu rushed to the car’s front passenger seat and was seen struggling with one of the suspects in the moving vehicle.

“Within seconds, he was pushed out of the car onto the road while the suspects sped off in my car.

“I rushed to him but he was already lying there unconscious,” she said.

She said that a passer-by rushed Zhu to Hospital Sultan Ismail, where he slipped into a coma and was pronounced dead seven hours later.

Zhu’s son Liang Hui, 45, said that he was not surprised that his father had reacted that way to fight off the thieves.

“He always stood up for what he believed was right,” he said.

Meanwhile, Seri Alam OCPD Supt Roslan Zainuddin confirmed the case and said that police had yet to make any arrests.

“We are investigating the case under Section 302 for murder,” he said, urging anyone with information to contact the Johor police hotline at 07-2212 999 or visit the nearest police station.