Sarawak police have sought the assistance of Interpol in the hunt for the alleged mastermind behind the murder of Miri PKR branch secretary Bill Kayong, who was shot at a traffic light junction in Lutong on June 21.

State CID chief SAC Dev Kumar said from the investigation, it was found that the mastermind known as Stephen Lee Chee Kiang, 45, whose address was Lot 290, Jalan Woodhouse, Tanjong Lobang, Miri had escaped to Singapore from Miri on June 23.

"Lee then left for Melbourne, Australia on July 3 from Singapore. His present location is not known yet and the task force investigating this case has sought the help of Interpol to detect him," he told reporters in Miri today.

He believed that although they had so far not received a reply from Interpol, Lee could still be overseas but his exact location had not been identified yet.

Dev Kumar said that besides Lee, two of the latter's friends, KTV Lounge owner Kong Sien Ming, 35, and Chin Wui Chung @ Ah Chung, 50, who was also Lee's personal assistant, were also being tracked down by police.

"We believe that both (Kong and Chin) are still in the country," he said, adding that warrants of arrest had been issued on the three men by the Miri Magistrate's Court on July 9.

Dev Kumar appealed to members of the public with information on the three suspects to contact the police so that the three could be taken to court.

He said the photographs and addresses of the three suspects were given to the media today to facilitate their identification by the public.

On July 15, two others were charged in the Miri Magistrate's Court over the murder of Bill Kayong, 43, whose Muslim name was Mohd Hasbie Abdullah.

Mohamad Fitri Pauzi, 29, was charged with murdering Kayong while the second accused, Lie Chang Loon, 37, was charged with abetting him in the murder.

Kayong, an advocate of social issues, especially indigenous rights and land issues, was gunned down while he was in his Toyota Hilux vehicle at a traffic light junction, near a mall in Miri.

- Bernama