JOHOR BARU, March 27 – Revenge is believed to be the motive behind the fatal shooting of a man in Taman Setia Indah on January 8, linked to tensions between rival secret societies, Johor police said.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk M. Kumar stated that investigations confirmed secret society involvement in the murder and that revenge was a key factor, according to a report published in The Star today.
“There is an element of secret society in this case. We also believe that revenge is the motive behind the murder,” he said during a press conference at the state police headquarters today.
Police are searching for one or two more suspects while nine individuals are currently in remand until Sunday, he said.
The 40-year-old victim was shot at close range by an unidentified man who arrived at the restaurant on a motorcycle.
A post-mortem confirmed he died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
A special task force, including Bukit Aman personnel, was formed to investigate the case.
On March 8, police shot dead a 64-year-old suspect during a shootout at Jalan Persiaran Bumi Hijau in Taman Molek.
“At the scene, officers recovered a Smith & Wesson pistol, four live bullets, and two bullet casings. Hours later, between 5am and 6am, six male suspects aged 48 to 66 were arrested during a raid on a house in Jalan Ah Siang,” said Kumar.
During the arrests, police seized heroin, drug paraphernalia, a digital weighing scale, and an air pistol.
Further operations on March 17 led to the arrests of three more male suspects, aged 36 to 62, along Jalan Bukit Meldrum.
Officers also confiscated a semi-automatic Sig Sauer pistol and two cartridge cases containing a total of 15 bullets.
Ballistics tests confirmed that bullets and casings recovered from the murder scene in Taman Setia Indah matched one of the firearms seized during the operation.