RELATIVE ARRESTED AT KLIA OVER MURDER OF POLICEMAN
Man was about to board a flight to Sibu at KLIA
HARIZ MOHD
SEPANG harizm@nst.com.my
POLICE yesterday arrested a man at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in connection with the murder of a policeman in Subang earlier in the day.
Sources said the 34-year-old suspect, believed to be related to the victim, was detained about 7.30pm when he was about to board a flight to Sibu.
“The suspect was traced by airport authorities when he was about to board a flight to Sibu.
“He was then arrested by a team of policemen, who handed him over to investigators from Subang Jaya police headquarters’ serious crimes division.
“The suspect, who is a Sarawakian, was then taken to the district police headquarters to facilitate investigations,” said a source.
It is learnt that the suspect’s identity had been flagged by police, leading to him being identified when he tried to leave through the airport.
Police officials, however, declined to confirm the arrest, with one officer telling the New Straits Times to “wait for the boss” to make an announcement.
The body of Lance Corporal Valentino Mesa, a Sarawakian, was found with slash and gunshot wounds about 3.30am at the Pinggiran USJ police station by colleagues who had just returned from patrols.
Initially, police did not rule out any angle when investigating Valentino’s murder, including the possibility that it could have been a terror attack.
Though the case was being probed by the Criminal Investigation Department, Special Branch director Datuk Seri Fuzi Harun told NST that his men were also helping out to determine if the attack could have been the work of terror organisations such as Islamic State.
Sources, who spoke to the NST on condition of anonymity, said one reason that terrorism had not been ruled out was that the murder took place on National Day.
High-profile celebrations like independence days and religious occasions are often chosen by terror groups to launch attacks to “make a statement”.
One source told the NST that the Pinggiran USJ police station was among several police facilities which had been previously identified as being “at risk of being targeted by terror groups” due to its secluded location.
However, with the arrest of Valentino’s relative, it is understood that his murder could have been a more personal issue.
Selangor police chief Datuk Mazlan Mansor said earlier investigators believed the attacker had gone to the station to cause harm to police.
He said initial investigations revealed that the victim had no “personal issues” that could have led to his murder.
However, he said, this was subject to further investigation.
The NST was made to understand that the assailant had brutally attacked the victim with a sharp weapon before shooting him execution-style in the back at close range. Sources said the lance corporal, who was alone when he was set upon, was slashed once on his forehead.
Initial checks by police at the scene also revealed that he sustained at least five more slash wounds at the back of his head.
It is believed that the victim was shot in the back when he was lying face down on the floor after being slashed.
Police recovered fragments of the bullet fired at the victim on the floor, where his body was found, at the station’s front desk counter.
Also found was a 9mm bullet casing, believed to have been fired from the victim’s Walther P99 service pistol.
The semi-automatic firearm is missing, believed to have been taken by his attacker.
Mazlan said police would seek assistance from owners of nearby premises to review closed-circuit television camera recordings as the station did not have any.
The victim’s body was sent to Serdang Hospital for a postmortem.