POLICE intelligence has revealed that several suspects linked to the murder of a man at a petrol station in Johor Baru might have gone into hiding in Thailand.

Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd said efforts were being made to track down and detain the fugitives with the assistance of Thai police.

“We believe a few of them have fled (to Thailand). We have obtained their records (of slipping into Thailand)... one of them is the main suspect in the murder,” he told Bernama in an interview yesterday.

He said he was confident that all the suspects who had fled to Thailand would be tracked down, arrested and brought back to Malaysia to face justice.

“It is just a matter of time (before they are arrested),” he said, adding that the records comprised photos of the suspects, as well as other documents.

Wan Najmuddin said police had gotten a positive response from their Thai counterparts.

“They (Thai police) are very positive to our request. I am confident of bringing the suspects back to Malaysia.”

He said his deputy and Malaysian police’s liaison officer in Thailand would coordinate the search for the suspects.

On December 17 last year, 44-year-old Tan Aik Chai died at a petrol station in Taman Pelangi, Johor Baru, after he was stabbed and repeatedly run over by a white BMW with four men in it.

Police have since recovered the vehicle, which was found in an oil palm estate in Ayer Baloi, Pontian, with its registration plate removed.

A spate of arrests have also been made.

Johor police chief Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said the suspects, aged between 21 and 40, were believed to be members of a secret society.

“We believe all of them had a role to play in the case, and they have criminal records. Arrest warrants have been issued, and we seek the public’s cooperation,” he told a press conference after delivering his mandate to police personnel at the Pontian police headquarters yesterday.

Today, two people are expected to be charged with the murder at the Johor Baru magistrates’ court. – Bernama, January 11, 2018.