ALOR SETAR: Police arrested five men, including a foreigner, suspected of being involved in the house fire in Tongkang Yard, near here, where the charred remains of two victims were found yesterday morning.
Kedah Police chief Datuk Fisol Salleh said the suspects, aged 19 to 56, were arrested separately around the district.
He said the arrests were made based on intelligence and a police report previously made by one of the victims, aged in the 60s, a day before the incident occurred and it was related to a stolen phone involving one of the suspects.
“Our preliminary investigations found that this then escalated to revenge. Initially, we thought it was a normal fire incident, but our investigation now veers towards Section 302 of the Penal Code.
“The deceased had lodged a police report about the theft on Jan 20 and that led to our investigation.
“We arrested these five people for preliminary investigation purposes and, as a result, we have identified the three main suspects involved in this incident. Of the five, three also tested positive for drugs and have several prior drug and criminal-related records,” he told reporters here today.
Fisol said all five suspects have been remanded for six days from today to assist in investigations, adding that police are still awaiting the autopsy report to confirm the victims’ identities and the cause of death.
Meanwhile, in a separate case, a 23-year-old unemployed man has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the blaze that destroyed nine houses in Kupang, near Baling.
Fisol said the suspect was arrested on Monday (Jan 20) at about 12.30 pm in Kupang.
“With the suspect’s arrest, we believe we have solved all nine cases of mischief by fire, which are believed to have stemmed from revenge due to frequent bullying,” he said.
He said the suspect has been remanded until Saturday (Jan 25) and that the case is being investigated under Section 435 of the Penal Code (Act 574) which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment and a fine.
