Malaysian police believe a man gunned down in his Ipoh home last week was the victim of an international organised crime syndicate, marking the latest in a string of unresolved gang-related assassinations in public places that left five people dead and shocked the country last month.
Gun violence is rare in Malaysia, where unlicensed gun ownership and even brandishing a firearm as intimidation are capital crimes.
But a series of shootings over 12 days in June has sparked public fear – as three of the four incidents occurred at a restaurant, a shopping centre and in traffic in Klang Valley, Malaysia’s most affluent region encompassing Kuala Lumpur and industrialised areas of neighbouring Selangor.
In the latest case in Ipoh, about an hour north of Kuala Lumpur, the 57-year-old man was found dead in his home on June 24 with gunshot and knife wounds to his chest and abdomen. Police initially pinned the killing on his 31-year-old son, who discovered the body.
Perak state police chief Noor Hisam Nordin later said investigations revealed the murder was linked to a major organised crime syndicate with international ties.
“There is a possibility that the victim himself was involved in the syndicate,” Noor Hisam told local media. “The police investigation will involve Aseanapol and Interpol.”
