Ramming into big trouble | The Star

JOHOR BARU: Three people suspected to have been involved in the murder of a 25-year-old man were nabbed after the car they were fleeing in crashed into the palace gates here, with all of them testing positive for drugs.

Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Raub Selamat said that the suspects in their 20s and 30s were arrested at about 5.30am on Friday.

“At about 3.41am on Friday, we received information from the public about a fight involving sharp objects that had occurred here, which resulted in the death of a local man.

“In a preliminary investigation, we found stab marks on the victim’s chest, stomach, ribcage, shoulder, back, as well as wounds on his fingers and cheek.

“We are still investigating the cause of the fight,” he said in a statement here yesterday.

He added that the police later detected the three suspects in a car along Jalan Tanjung Puteri here.

“We found a car that was (moving) in a suspicious manner along Jalan Tanjung Puteri.

“When the police tried to make further checks on the vehicle, the driver sped off before losing control and crashing in front of Istana Besar Johor.

“We then arrested the three suspects,” he said.

When contacted, ACP Raub confirmed that two of the suspects are Singaporean men, while the third is a local woman.

“One of the suspects has a criminal record involving drug cases, and all three tested positive for methamphetamine.

“We also seized a knife handle, a knife, two shirts, two trousers and three phones,” he said.

The case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code and Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act.

The driver is also being investigated under Section 44(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.

The arrest is also linked to a three-vehicle accident case reported earlier that damaged the front gate of Istana Besar Johor.

In an earlier statement, ACP Raub said that a three-vehicle accident had occurred at about 5.28am on Friday at KM2.8 Jalan Skudai, Pantai Lido here.

“A foreign man in his 20s was heading towards Skudai from Johor Baru town when he lost control and skidded to the opposite lane at a junction. There were two passengers in the car.

“The car also crashed into two other vehicles at the front gate of Istana Besar,” ACP Raub said in a separate statement.