JOHOR BARU: Police are still investigating the motive behind the murder of an elderly couple and their 11-year-old granddaughter at Kampung Paya Redan in Pagoh, following the arrest of the 48-year-old suspect.
Johor police chief Comm M. Kumar said the suspect was arrested at Jalan Sultan Ismail, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, at 1.13am on Wednesday (Aug 14) after fleeing the crime scene last Friday (Aug 9).
"The arrest was made by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and the suspect is currently under remand for seven days to help with the investigation from Aug 14 until Aug 20.
"We are still investigating the motive behind this incident, and we hope that members of the public will not create any speculation that could disturb the investigation," he said in a statement here.
The suspect is the eldest son of the deceased couple. He was previously sought after allegedly fleeing when their house was engulfed in flames early on Friday morning.
It was earlier reported that an elderly couple and their 11-year-old granddaughter died in a house fire at Kampung Paya Redan in Pagoh, while their other grandchild sustained head injuries.
Muar OCPD Asst Comm Raiz Mukhliz Azman Aziz said a witness told police the incident occurred at 1.30am.
"The victims are identified as Mohamed Nor Mohamed Yassin, 82, Ara Abdul Hamid, 76, and their 11-year-old granddaughter.
"They were pronounced dead at the scene," he said, adding that a 14-year-old girl in the house suffered a head injury and is being treated at the Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital.
Police had earlier classified the case as Sudden Death Report before changing it to Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder after finding signs of criminal intent based on their investigation at the location and the postmortem report on the three victims.
