Two assassins who were suspected to be involved in six murders and one attempted murder in Sarawak and Sabah since 2012, were shot dead by police in Sibu early today.

Sarawak CID chief SAC Dev Kumar said three of the murders and one attempted murder were believed to be committed in Sibu, while another three murders were carried out in Kuching, Bintulu, and Penampang, Sabah.

The latest case is suspected to involve a man named Ting Meng Min, 30, who was shot dead at a restaurant in Jalan Long Bridge at 11.25pm in Sibu, on Jan 9.

"We found traces of gunshots that had been plastered on the body of the Nissan Navara four-wheel drive used by the criminals, believed to be fired by Ting's bodyguards during the incident," he said.

He said this during a press conference at the Sibu district police headquarters today.

The two who were killed in the shootout today were identified as Joshua Beti Chong, 44, from Sri Aman, who had been arrested four times under the Firearms Act 1960 as well as for two murders, and was sentenced to prison for offences under the Firearms Act 1960, in 2012.

His friend, identified as Awie Ningan, 36, from Saratok, had no previous criminal record.

Dev Kumar said police believe the modus operandi of these suspected criminals was similar in each of the cases, whereby they would drive up to the victims and shoot them from the car, except for one case in Kuching, where a motorcycle was used.

He said the police would continue to investigate the matter to identify the mastermind who hired these criminals to commit the murders.

- Bernama