GEORGE TOWN, Nov 27 ― General Operations Force (GOF) personnel Sergeant Norihan Tari has regained consciousness and begun to show positive signs of recovery after undergoing surgery to remove two of the three bullets from his body yesterday.

Penang Police chief Datuk Sahabudin Abd Manan said he visited Norihan at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Penang Hospital this morning.

"He was showing positive reaction including talking to me even though he was still weak...he’s demonstrating a strong will to recover,” he told Bernama when contacted.

He said the medical team was making an assessment regarding another bullet near the lung that had not yet been removed.

"Whether follow-up surgery is needed to remove the third bullet, it depends on the assessment of the doctors and Norihan's health,” he said.

Yesterday, Norihan was transferred from the Tunku Fauziah Hospital, Kangar, Perlis to undergo surgery to remove the bullets and receive further treatment.

Bernama previously reported that Cpl Baharuddin Ramli, 54, who was posthumously promoted to sergeant, was killed while Norihan, 39, was seriously injured in a shootout with smugglers that happened around 2.30am Tuesday just 600 metres from the TS9 command post at the Malaysia-Thailand border in Padang Besar, Perlis.

Baharuddin and Norihan, members of the GOF Senoi Praaq unit, were conducting surveillance when they bumped into 13 smugglers, which then escalated into a shootout. ― Bernama