Selangor police are hunting five men to assist investigations into the murder of a 42-year-old man who was abducted from Ampang Waterfront and later found buried.
SHAH ALAM: Police are hunting five suspects to assist investigations into the murder of a man who was confined and tortured over a misunderstanding and personal disputes last month.
Selangor police chief Datuk Shazeli Kahar said all five men have prior criminal and narcotics records and have also been identified as being involved in gangsterism.
He said the men are believed to be linked to 15 others who have already been detained and are suspected of involvement in separate crimes related to the case, including the abduction of the victim, murder and firearms-related offences.
He said investigations found that the 42-year-old victim had been abducted by several individuals in a car at Ampang Waterfront between 4 am and 4.30 am on Sept 24.
He added that the victim’s wife subsequently lodged a police report over her husband’s disappearance, after which police launched a search and tracking operation.
“We carried out an operation that led to a series of initial arrests. On Sept 27, police were brought to a location near Semenyih where the victim was killed and buried,” he said at a press conference on the achievements of the Selangor Criminal Investigation Department at the Selangor Contingent Police Headquarters here today.
Shazeli said the self-employed victim knew the suspects involved and had also been found to be involved in gangsterism.
He said the victim was believed to have been confined at another residential premises before being killed. But the actual time of the killing could not be determined, with the post-mortem finding that the cause of death was multiple wounds from sharp weapons to the neck.
“Based on the injuries found on the victim’s body, his condition indicated that he had been tortured. Besides the wounds to his neck, there were multiple other injuries on his body,” he said.
He said the 15 other individuals were detained between Sept 24 and 27, comprising 12 local men, a local woman and two foreign men aged between 20 and 48.
“Several of those detained have criminal and narcotics-related records. Police also seized two rifles, a car and a hoe believed to have been used to bury the victim,” he said.
Shazeli said all 15 suspects were charged in court on Oct 13, covering abduction cases, with three suspects charged under Section 365 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law.
“For the murder case, two suspects were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34, while three others were charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 302,” he said.
He said that for the firearms-related offences, three suspects were charged under Section 8(a) of the Arms Act 1960, read together with Section 36(1) of the same Act, while two other foreign suspects were charged under Section 6(1)(c) and Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
“Police believe the five suspects being hunted are still in the country. We will share the details of the wanted individuals to help track them down,” he said.
Meanwhile, he urged the public to channel information to the police if they come across any suspicious activity, particularly those involving security threats and the use of firearms.