PETALING JAYA, Aug 1 — The son of the Bahrain-born banker who was gunned down in Kuala Lumpur has insisted that his father does not have enemies in Malaysia.

Hussain Ahmed Najadi was shot and killed as he was leaving a Chinese temple in Kuala Lumpur on Monday afternoon after meeting with a business partner.

“We had no enemies. We love Malaysia, a great nation and great people of peace. Those killers must be aliens,” his only son Pascal Najadi, Arab Investments for Asia Kuwait Limited (AIAK) Group deputy chairman and deputy chief executive, told the Gulf Daily News from Moscow, where he works.

Hussain, 75, who had Iranian citizenship and permanent Malaysian residency, was the chairman and chief executive of multi-billion dollar corporation AIAK Group.

Hussain had also established the Arab Malaysian Development Bank in 1975, now known as AmBank.

The banking giant was shot in his ribs and chest, while his 49-year-old Malaysian wife Cheong Mei Kuen survived the shooting but suffered serious hand and thigh injuries.

The hitman who gunned down Hussain has been identified following the arrest of a taxi driver in Sri Petaling, Brickfields on Tuesday night.

Although the police believe the murder was linked to financial transactions involving the former Bahrain resident, his son has asked the public not to speculate.

“We are not a property company, and I and AIAK are not aware of any such deal. We have no knowledge about all this and it is best not to speculate as the matter is being investigated,” Pascal, 45, said.

Pascal also dismissed links of the assassination to Hussain’s acquittal on embezzlement charges by Bahrain’s Supreme Civil Appeals Court.

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur CID chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah said initial investigations revealed the driver dropped off the suspected hitman in Jalan Yap Ah Loy after picking him up near the temple and claimed the suspect was his regular passenger.

Investigations revealed one man was responsible for the murder, contrary to initial reports of three suspects.

Monday’s murder follows a spate of killings in Malaysia.

Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force (MyWatch) chairman R Sri Sanjeevan is now battling for his life in hospital after being shot on July 27.

Another victim of a high-profile murder case was Customs deputy director-general Datuk Shaharuddin Ibrahim, who was shot dead while on his way to the office in Putrajaya on April 26.