Two held over senseless murders

JOHOR BARU: For as little as a few ringgit, two men brutally bludgeoned their hapless victims to death before robbing them.

Their spate of such murders – four in all – in Batu Pahat over two months, and described as “shocking” even by the police, came to an end when they were arrested recently.

Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said all the victims were men who were between 55 and 76 years old.

“The men would hit their victims on the head with any object they could get their hands on before robbing them,” SDCP Mohd Mokhtar told reporters at the state police headquarters here yesterday.

“The murders are shocking because they stole petty items, such as a few ringgit, watche­s and other cheap items.

“In all the cases, the victims died due to head injuries.”

SDCP Mohd Mokhtar said that due to the seriousness of the crimes, police formed a task force, which managed to nab the men, aged 30 and 35, recently.

The murders, he said, had occurred between November and December.

Police first detained the 30-year-old man at around midnight in Cahaya Masai here. Following this, police raided a seaside home in Kg Makam, Ulu Tiram, at around 2.30pm the same day.

“The second man noticed our officers and tried to jump into the sea,” SDCP Mohd Mokhtar said.

“However, one of our officers dived in after him and managed to catch him, drag him back to shore and arrest him.”

He added that the police also confiscated five mobile phones, an iPad, two pen drives and five memory cards.

SDCP Mohd Mokhtar said both men, who had past criminal records, had been put under remand pending investigation into the case.

“Both men also tested positive for drugs,” he added.