MELAKA: A 25-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly carrying out a firebomb attack for a Singapore-based loan shark syndicate at a residence in Taman Mengkuang, Alor Gajah here on June 6.
Melaka police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Zainol Samah said a team of police officers managed to track the suspect to his home in Taman Kok Lian, Jalan Ipoh in Kuala Lumpur before the arrest was made on late Wednesday (June 12) night.
During interrogation, the man admitted to throwing the Molotov cocktail, which also ignited a car on the property.
The car's owner, a 38-year-old woman, had filed a report at the Kuala Sungai Baru police station on the day of the incident.
"A special task force was formed to track the suspect following the violent act," said DCP Zainol on Thursday (June 13).
According to DCP Zainol, the suspect confessed to being directed by "Kelvin," the boss of an illegal money lending racket, to commit the act and was paid RM1,000.
He also revealed that he made the Molotov cocktail after watching instructions on YouTube and admitted to a similar previous attack in Sitiawan, Perak.
Operating alone, the suspect was assigned tasks via mobile phone from Singapore. He had previously taken a loan of RM10,000 from that same syndicate for gambling and was coerced into targeting defaulters when he could not repay the debt.
The suspect used his mother's car for the Alor Gajah attack. Initial investigations found that the attack was related to the house owner's son, who works in Singapore and acted as a loan guarantor for a friend.
A warning notice was also left at the house's entrance, threatening further attacks if the occupants did not settle their dues with the loan shark.
The suspect is being held under Section 435 of the Penal Code for committing mischief by fire with intent to cause damage.
Police have confiscated various items, including his mother's car, as part of the investigation.
