KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — A Sarawakian murder suspect who eluded police after converting to Islam and changing his name has finally been caught after six years.

Donny Meluda, 25, who has been wanted for the murder of an Indian citizen in Singapore since 2010 fled the republic to Johor and laid low for the next few years until he flew to Sibu, Sarawak last Saturday and was tracked down there by Interpol.

According to two dailies, he escaped detection by changing his religion to Islam and his name to Abdul Rahman Abdullah.

“Not many knew that Meluda had converted to Islam and had changed his name. So perhaps that was why he felt confident to travel,” Sarawak police assistant superintendent Mohd Irwan Hafiz was quoted saying by Singapore daily The Straits Times in a report today.

The news reports did not mention Meluda's religion before he became Muslim.

Meluda aka Abdul Rahman was wanted after his gang of four went on a robbery spree in Kallang, Singapore in May 2010, which ended up killing one man while severely injuring three others. His accomplices had been arrested and convicted.

He was arrested last Saturday afternoon at Sibu Airport and was handed over to Singapore police last Wednesday for prosecution, The Borneo Post reported.

“He did not put up a struggle when our officers approached him. His arrest was a peaceful affair as though he knew his time was up,” The Straits Times article quoted Mohd Irwan saying.

However, The Borneo Post reported that Meluda broke down and cried during a visit from his friends while being held at the police station in Sibu.

Singapore Police Force deputy commissioner Tan Chye Hee thanked the Malaysian police for their cooperation in the case.

Meluda is scheduled to be charged in a Singapore court on January 20 for the murder of Shanmuganathan Dillidurai, 41.

Meluda and his gang reportedly robbed and slashed three other men — Ang Jun Heng, 22,  Sandeep Singh, 27, and Egan Karuppaiah, 42 — at an open field near Kallang Road in 2010.

Gang members Micheal Garing was sentenced to death in April 2015 for murder, Tony Imba was sentenced to life in prison while Hairee Landak was sentenced to 33 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane.