MELAKA: Revenge and anger are believed to be the motives behind the brutal murder of a 24-year-old Tampin man, whose decomposed body was found in an overgrown field at a plantation in Pulau Sebang here.
Melaka police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Zainol Samah said police have detained six suspects aged 18 to 26 years old at various locations in Tampin, Negri Sembilan, to assist in the investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
"All the six individuals were friends of the victim," he said on Friday (Sept 22).
DCP Zainol said the suspects had, on Sept 9, gathered for a drinking session at 10.30pm in Taman Indah at Tampin.
The suspects were returning home after their session when they stumbled upon the victim at nearby Taman Mutiara early Sept 10 morning.
"The suspects then invited the victim to follow them in their car to have a drink," he said.
DCP Zainol said, however, the suspects took turns to assault the victim in the car before reaching the plantation that is located in Alor Gajah here.
He said upon arriving at the plantation, one of the suspects took out a machete from the car and slashed as well as stabbed the victim to death before abandoning his body at the site.
DCP Zainol said a preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects were unhappy over a police report lodged against them for selling firecrackers during a festive period last year which had caused a few of them to be detained by police at the time.
He said the suspects were angry over the police report lodged by one of the victim's family members and took revenge when they had the opportunity to do so.
DCP Zainol said police formed a force called "Ops Kejam" to track the suspects down after DNA procedures were completed and the test matched the victim's parents who had earlier lodged a police report on their missing son.
It was earlier reported that a decomposed body was discovered at the site on Sept 16.
DCP Zainol had been quoted on Sept 18 as saying that a post-mortem showed that the victim had severe injuries to his head and stab wounds on his body and could have been killed elsewhere before his body was dumped at Alor Gajah.
He said police received a call from the public about the foul stench from the site before the decomposed body was found.
