160 RI migrant workers arrested in Malaysia

160 RI migrant workers arrested in Malaysia

Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur

Police said on Monday they detained more than 160 Indonesian migrant workers and were hunting for a gang leader after three men were stabbed to death during weekend clashes between rival groups at a Malaysian construction site.

Two gangs of migrant laborers at a building site in Klang, 40 kilometers west of Kuala Lumpur, clashed twice on Saturday, state police chief Abu Bakar Mustafa said.

In the first brawl early on Saturday, one man was slashed to death; in the second fight about 11 hours later, two men died from similar wounds, Abu Bakar was cited as saying by the national news agency, Bernama.

The brawls were believed to have erupted over a dispute about the allocation of key jobs at the site, he said.

More than 250 police descended on the site on Sunday, arresting 164 suspects and seizing a variety of weapons including swords, jungle knives and spears, Abu Bakar said.

Police were searching for an alleged gang leader known by the aliases Frankie, Tamrin and the "one-eyed warrior," because of a scar over one eye, Abu Bakar said.

Migrant workers, especially from neighboring Indonesia, are plentiful in the construction sector in Malaysia, one of Southeast Asia's richest nations and a magnet for immigrants from the region's poorer and less stable areas.

But fights between rival gangs at communities housing migrant workers are common. The government blames illegal foreign workers for crime in the communities, and periodically launches crackdowns against undocumented arrivals.