Police in Ho Chi Minh City have arrested two prime suspects who killed and injured five ‘street knights’ on Sunday night.

Officers from the municipal Department of Police on Monday apprehended Nguyen Tan Tai, 24, and Nguyen Hoang Chau Phu, 24, for allegedly stabbing to death two members of an unofficial ‘street guardian’ group and wounded three others.

Investigators first summoned Phu on Monday afternoon and later discovered his connections with Tai.

Dozens of officers arrived at a house in Go Vap District on Monday night to arrest Tai, who attempted to escape but was eventually captured.

At the police station, the two suspects admitted to attacking the ‘street knights’ with their knives.

Nguyen Tan Tai is held at the police station in this photo supplied by officers.

According to the case file, two motorbike thieves were trying to steal an Honda SH scooter in front of a house on Cach Mang Thang 8 Street in District 3 on Sunday night when they were detected by a team of seven ‘street guardians.’

After being besieged by the ‘street knights,’ the criminals took out their weapons to aggressively fight back, inflicting serious injuries on five of the ‘street knights,’ who were later admitted to the hospital for emergency treatment.

As they are not recognized as authorized law enforcement officers, all ‘street guardians’ are not allowed to be armed for their own protection.

Nguyen Hoang Nam, 29, a Ho Chi Minh City resident, and 42-year-old Nguyen Van Thoi, hailing from the south-central province of Binh Dinh, succumbed to their stab wounds.

The son of Nguyen Van Thoi holds his portrait as the family takes his body to the south-central province of Binh Dinh for a funeral. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Tran Van Hoang, 47, Nguyen Duc Huy, 22, and Dinh Phu Quy, 22, are still being intensively treated at the hospital.

On Monday afternoon, Thoi’s body was handed to his wife, son, and older brother to prepare for funeral rituals in his hometown.

Thoi was renting a house in Tan Binh District and working as a motorbike taxi driver. He had been a member of the guardian group for nearly seven years.

Nam’s mother and fiancée also received his body on the same day.

He was a truck driver by day and a ‘street knight’ by night, having been in the team for the past three years.

Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan and a delegation of officials have visited the injured ‘street knights’ at the hospital.

Nguyen Hoang Nam’s fiancée sits by his coffin on May 14, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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