Bukit Aman CID director Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd says authorities are seeking the help of Thai police to track down the suspects.
BANGKOK: Malaysian police intelligence has revealed that several suspects, linked to the gruesome murder of a man at a petrol station in Johor, might have gone into hiding in Thailand.
Bukit Aman CID director Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd said efforts were underway to track down and detain the fugitives with the assistance of Thai police.
“We believe a few of them have fled here. We have obtained their records (of slipping into Thailand)… one of them is the main suspect (in the murder),” he told Bernama in an interview here today.
Wan Ahmad Najmuddin said he was confident all the suspects who fled to Thailand would be tracked down, arrested and brought back to Malaysia to face justice.
“It is just a matter of time (before they are arrested),” he said.
Wan Ahmad Najmuddin also acknowledged that the Malaysian police had received positive response from their Thai counterparts.
“They (Thai police) have reacted positively to our request. I am confident (of bringing the suspects back to Malaysia),” he said, adding that his deputy, and the Malaysian police’s liaison officer in Thailand would coordinate the search for the fugitives.
On Dec 17, four men stabbed the 44-year-old victim at the petrol station in Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru. As the man lay bleeding on the ground, the assailants ran over the victim twice in their white BMW car.
A woman, believed to be the victim’s wife, was standing nearby. The incident was recorded by patrons at the petrol station and the video went viral on social media.
It was reported that the police have since detained 14 individuals to facilitate investigations into the murder, with 11 of them subsequently released.
According to Wan Ahmad Najmuddin, the police believed the case had been solved as they had enough evidence to charge one of the suspects in court.
He said investigations revealed that the murder was carefully planned with certain individuals assigned to trail the victim’s car and deflate the tyres at the petrol station.
He said the killing had stemmed from a dispute over the victim’s RM50,000 debt and not due to “turf war” involving two rival gangs as reported earlier.
Meanwhile in Pontian, Johor, the state police were in the midst of tracking down nine new suspects linked to the murder.
Johor police chief Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said the suspects, aged between 21 and 40, were believed to be members of a secret society.
“We believe all of them had a role to play in the case and they have criminal records. Warrants of arrest have been issued and we seek the public’s cooperation,” he told a press conference after delivering a speech to police personnel at the Pontian police headquarters today.
Two people are expected to be charged with the murder at the Johor Bahru Magistrate’s Court tomorrow.
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