Escape foiled at hospital

Nabbed: The suspect (in purple) being escorted by police personnel after landing at the Police Air Wing Unit Base. — MUHAMAD SHAHRIL ROSLI /The Star

PETALING JAYA: After a botched attempt at shooting his wife – which saw a bodyguard critically injured – the assailant planned to flee the country.

Amid the chaos at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 in the wee hours of Sunday, the 38-year-old drove off in a white Honda Civic car and headed north.

He even changed the vehicle’s number plate before arriving in Kota Baru, Kelantan, on Sunday afternoon.

He then used one of four identity cards he had – all belonging to others – to book a hotel room there. Strangely, though, he then decided to collect the results of a medical test, which he had taken a week before, at a private hospital in Kota Baru.

That proved to be his undoing.

The cops had tracked him down and he was finally arrested in front of the hospital at around 3pm on Monday – about 38 hours after the shooting.

According to Federal CID director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain, it was a joint effort by CID elements from Selangor, Kelantan and Bukit Aman which led to his capture.

“Based on our investigations, the man was making arrangements to leave the country.

“He had been in and out of Malaysia on numerous occasions prior to his arrest. Just last week, he came back from Saudi Arabia and landed in Bangkok. He then made his way to Kota Baru from there,” he said at the Kelantan police headquarters yesterday.

The suspect had gone to the hospital for his medical check-up then.

“During interrogation, he told us he went to the hospital to collect the results of the check-up,” he said.

Asked if the man was planning to head to Mecca via a neighbouring country, Comm Mohd Shuhaily did not rule out that possibility.

He said it was also premature to comment on whether the suspect had gone for the medical check-up for travel visa arrangements.

“We cannot rule it out. We do know that he was making arrangements to leave the country.”

Comm Mohd Shuhaily said police found a Glock pistol with one round in the chamber and eight rounds loaded in its magazine.

They also found a box containing 24 more bullets in his car.

He said further checks led to the seizure of 10,100 Saudi riyal and some Thai baht and the four identity cards.

“One of these identity cards was used to book the hotel room he was staying in.

“He told us he arrived in Kelantan just after Zohor prayers on Sunday,” he said, adding that investigations showed that the suspect worked alone and did not have a network helping him.

He said the suspect was believed to have acquired the gun illegally from a neighbouring country.

Yesterday, a suspect identified as Hafizul Harawi was remanded and brought to Selangor to facilitate the attempted murder investigations.

“We will be calling several witnesses to come back to tidy up our investigations,” he said adding that the suspect who is from Selangor had previously studied at a religious school in Repek in Pasir Mas, Kelantan, and had memorised the Quran.

The suspect was flown back to Selangor in a police King Air B300 aircraft and was taxied to the Police Air Wing Unit Base at around 2.05pm. The suspect was clad in purple lock-up attire while escorted by police personnel clad in full tactical gear and armed with sub-machine guns.

The suspect, who was wearing a face mask, was seen sweating and looked physically drained when he was bundled into a silver police Proton Persona by police and driven out of the base at around 2.20pm.

Comm Mohd Shuhaily was also seen entering an unmarked Proton X70 moments later.

It is learnt the suspect has been brought to the Selangor police headquarters for further action.

On mounting concern over firearms being smuggled into the country, Comm Mohd Shuhaily said operations are ongoing.

“We can talk about how vast our borders are, and its potential for being porous, but it is by nature that way.

“The government has taken various steps to address the issue, including setting up the Malaysia Checkpoints and Border Agency (MCBA),” he added.