KLIA shooting suspect remanded for seven days
KOTA BHARU: The man who was arrested over Sunday’s shooting incident at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 has been remanded for seven days.
The Kota Bharu Magistrates’ Court yesterday issued an order to remand the 38-yearold suspect, until this April 22, to facilitate investigations under Section 8 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 and Section 8 of the Arms Act 1960.
The remand order was issued by Magistrate Rais Imran Hamid.
The suspect, in lock-up attire, arrived at the court at 8.25am, escorted by several police personnel.
He was arrested in front of a private hospital here at about 3pm on Monday by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers.
In the 1.30am shooting incident, a man fired two shots at his wife at the entrance of the arrival hall, but missed.
One of the shots hit her bodyguard in the abdomen. He was admitted to hospital and is reported to be in stable condition.
Meanwhile, Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the suspect could be trying to escape to a neighbouring country.
This, he added, was based on the suspect’s frequent travel records abroad, besides having his passport as well as Riyal (Saudi) and Baht (Thai) currencies with him.
Speaking at a media conference in the Kelantan police contingent headquarters yesterday, Mohd Shuhaily said the police were also looking into the method used by the suspect to escape abroad.
“His travel records showed that he made frequent trips abroad such as to Saudi Arabia and Thailand before entering Malaysia.
“Yes, there is indeed an attempt by the suspect to escape through the country’s border and we are still collecting more information.”
Commenting on whether the suspect had applied for a visa to go abroad, Mohd Shuhaily said the matter was still under investigation.
He said initial investigations indicated that the suspect arrived in Kelantan on April 14 using the same car, namely a Honda Civic, but changed the vehicle’s registration plate number to avoid his movements being detected.
He said before being arrested, the man was staying at a hotel in Kota Bharu.
“The suspect has four identity cards belonging to other people, and one of the identity cards was used to register with the hotel.” Mohd Shuhaily said the suspect used someone else’s identity card to avoid being identified by the public and detected by the authorities.
“But based on intelligence, the police were successful in arresting the man near a private hospital at about 3pm, after a brief struggle,” he said.
His travel records showed that he made frequent trips abroad such as to Saudi Arabia and Thailand before entering Malaysia.
Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain