Petrol station murder: Police recover car
JOHOR BAHRU: Police have recovered the white BMW 520D sedan which was believed to have been used in the murder of a man at a petrol station in Taman Pelangi here on Dec 17.
Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said the vehicle was found without its registration number by passersby after it was left abandoned at an oil palm plantation in Ayer Balai near Pontian.
“The car was one of the two murder weapons used in the incident, apart from a knife. The forensic team found several elements that can link the car with the killing,” he told reporters here yesterday.
However, Mohd Khalil said police had not found the knife.
In the meantime, he said 15 individuals, comprising 11 men and four women, were being detained to facilitate investigations.
Police were still closing in on three main suspects who were believed to be in the country, Mohd Khalil said.
According to Mohd Khalil, four of the 15 people – namely three men and a woman – would be released after the investigation is completed while 11 others (eight men, three women) were still being remanded until Dec 30.
“We are establishing the storyline that can be linked to the murder with the arrest of the suspects. We have to understand that there has to be a planner in a murder case. We need to be specific in the investigations because it is not as easy as we think,” he said.
In the 7.30am incident, the victim in his 40s died at the scene after being stabbed, knocked down and ran over by a car carrying four men.
The murder took place when the man, who was with his wife, was inflating the tyres of his car.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed the incident was related to a tiff between two secret societies.