A dark, secret life revealed

IPOH: The 57-year-old man’s reign of terror was said to have begun some 30 years ago when he was a young gang leader in Tapah.

Due to his involvement in secret societies and crime, he was banished to another state. Years later, it seemed that he had turned over a new leaf.

He joined a bus company in Tapah, some 55km from here, and then set up a workshop beside his wooden house in Jalan Pahang, also in Tapah, to repair buses for the company he used to work for. The place is about a kilometre away from the Tapah toll plaza.

He lived a quiet life there with his 54-year-old wife and two sons, aged 20 and 17. But a darker side of his life has now emerged.

Police arrested the family of four on Oct 26 on suspicion of being involved in the brutal murders of at least four people whose bodies were burnt and the ashes dumped into a river behind their house.

Police said the murders were believed to have taken place between 2012 and this year.

Murder most foul: The main suspect being led out of the Tapah magistrate's court after a remand order was obtained againts him.

According to a police source, one of the victims, a spare parts dealer, was murdered sometime last year.

“His older son used to help the man with the servicing of the vehicles, while the other son was jobless,” the source added.

“He is good at his job and no one thought he could commit murder,” the source said.

He said the accused had debts amounting to more than RM60,000 to the dealer. The dealer was not seen again after he came to the workshop to demand payment.

It is learnt the dealer’s family came looking for the man but were refused entry by the suspect. A pack of some 30 dogs kept the dealer’s family members out.

The dealer’s daughter said her father’s employer had called the family claiming to have received a text message from him.

The text message, written in Bahasa Malaysia, said the dealer “owed people money and he had gone overseas”.

However, the dealer’s family refused to believed the message and informed police.

Another victim, a 46-year-old land broker from Chenderiang, is believed to have been murdered after a failed land deal.

The broker and the accused had made some land deals together in the past.

It is learnt that the victim had failed to pay the suspect his commission. The workshop man had also wanted to buy a piece of land belonging to the victim.

“However, the broker refused to sell his land. These two factors angered the accused,” he added.

Another source said victims were “finished off” after they approached the man to get their money back.

“The family is known to be mysterious and always kept to themselves,” said the source.

Meanwhile, several people living nearby described the main suspect as a reserved man.

“He never mingled nor spoke much to us. He was very secretive.

“In recent years, I could never seem to find him. I was told he was up in Cameron Highlands whenever I went looking for him,” said a man who declined to be identified.

He claimed the man had another two daughters.

Another resident said he kept his distance from the main suspect as he had heard rumours that he was a gangster.