A man died following a clash with a group of Pakistani men after he and his two friends allegedly broke into a foreigners' house in Sungkai, Perak, to carry out a robbery early this morning.

Tapah district police chief Wan Azharuddin Wan Ismail said the 31-year-old, identified as A Govalan, was confirmed dead at the scene and his body was taken to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh for a post-mortem.

"Police received a call from the public who informed of a quarrel at a house in Taman Orkid, Sungkai about 2.45am.

"When Sungkai police personnel arrived at the scene at 3.15am, a man was found lying unconscious in the living room of the house with bruises to the lips and eyes, and swelling on the back and right side of the head," he said in a press conference today.

He said the six Pakistani men aged between 27 and 38 who had been staying at the house for the past two months were detained and remanded until March 4 to assist with the investigation.

"One of the men who was detained stated that during the incident, he and his five other friends were talking with each other in the living room when they were approached by three men with machetes who attempted to attack them.

"As a result, one of the Pakistani men was wounded on the left hand. There was a struggle between the two groups and they (foreigners) finally caught one of the three alleged robbers, who is the one found dead," he said, adding the latter's two colleagues are yet to be traced and that the case was being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.

- Bernama