JOHOR BARU, Dec 18 — Police are investigating the car registration number plate used in a white BMW 520d that was used by four suspects in yesterday night’s brazen and brutal assault-cum-murder of a man in Taman Pelangi here.
It was learnt that the Road Transport Department (RTD) records showed that the plate number “WB79L” is confirmed to be registered under a white 2015 BMW 520d belonging to a 55-year-old man residing in Shah Alam, Selangor.
The information, spread on social media, is believed to have been leaked from a police device supplied to detectives and crime prevention police personnel called Pintar Enhanced Mobile Management System (EMMS).
“Police are looking at the car owner’s relationship with the case as initial investigations revealed that the owner did not have any prior criminal records,” a source familiar with the case told Malay Mail today.
However, sources said there may be a possibility that the man’s car registration plate was forged.
Based on the owner’s identity card number, sources revealed that he had lodged two reports in the past 10 years over his car: One was for a car break-in at Gurun, Kedah in 2010 and the second was a traffic police report in Ipoh, Perak in 2015.
“However, investigators are looking at the possibility that the registration number may have been duplicated and used by the actual suspects,” another source said, adding that investigations were still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Johor Criminal Investigations Department chief Datuk Azman Ayob appealed to the public to stop spreading rumours that police have caught two people suspected of involvement in the murder of a motorist at the Shell petrol station along the busy Jalan Sri Pelangi in Taman Pelangi.
“Police deny the viralled photos of two arrested suspects were connected to the murder case.
“The public should stop circulating incorrect and inaccurate information online,” Azman said when asked about the progress of investigations today.
A photo of a partly crashed white car along an expressway in Johor purported to belong to the suspects had been circulating on social media after the 7.30pm murder yesterday.
However, checks showed the white car was a Toyota Camry involved in an accident with a trailer along the Senai-Desaru Expressway last night and not a white BMW 520d used in the murder.
Parts of the city centre was locked down last night as police from the Johor Baru Selatan district launched an operation and manhunt for several suspects who were recorded on video to have stabbed and run over a man in his 30s at the petrol station.
The victim had a female companion who was unharmed and had earlier fled when the attack started.
