Johor police chief Comm Datuk M. Kumar (second from right) with other state police officers showing one of the seized firearms during a press conference held at state police headquarters here in Johor Baru on Thursday (March 27).
JOHOR BARU: Revenge could have been the motive for the shooting murder of a man in Taman Setia Indah, Johor here two months ago, police investigation shows.
The murder is linked to tensions between rival secret societies, said Johor police chief Comm Datuk M. Kumar in an update of the case that took place on Jan 8 at a restaurant.
“There is an element of secret society in this case. We also believe that revenge is the motive behind the murder,” he told a press conference at state police headquarters on Thursday (March 27).
Police are hunting for “one or two more” suspects to aid in the investigation, Comm Kumar said, adding that nine suspects were currently in remand until this Sunday.
The 40-year-old victim was shot at close range by an unidentified male who arrived at the premises on a motorcycle.
“Investigation on the deceased found four shots where post-mortem result confirmed the cause of his death is due to gunshot wound to the chest,” Comm Kumar recounted.
Following the incident, police set up a special task force team, involving Bukit Aman personnel, to investigate the case and find the perpetrators.
“On March 8, at around 3.10am, police shot dead a 64-year-old man, who we believe is a suspect in the murder case, following a shoot out along Jalan Persiaran Bumi Hijau at Taman Molek here.
“At the scene, police found a Smith & Wesson pistol, four live bullets and two bullet casings. On the same day, between 5am and 6am, police arrested six male suspects, aged between 48 and 66 years, during a raid at a house along Jalan Ah Siang here,” he said.
Comm Kumar added that during the arrests, police also seized a transparent packet and three straws filled with drugs believed to be heroin, a piece of aluminium foil to consume the drug, a digital weight scale device and an air pistol.
“Police then carried out another operation on March 17 between 9.45am and 1pm, which led to the arrest of three more male suspects aged between 36 and 62 years along Jalan Bukit Meldrum here.
“The special task force team seized a semi-automatic Sig Sauer pistol, one cartridge case with six bullets and another cartridge case with nine bullets,” he said.
Comm Kumar also said investigations found that the bullets and casings found at the murder case in Taman Setia Indah match with one of the firearms seized in the operation.
