This Article is From Sep 15, 2010

Serial killings haunt Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur: The killings of 17 people, including four ethnic Indians, are being linked to last week's sensational murders of four people in Malaysia for which two lawyer brothers have been detained.

The lawyer brothers have been detained over the gruesome murder of businesswoman Sosilawati Lawiya and three others.

Past cases of murdered people reported in the New Straits Times were of 37-year-old R. Thinakaran Raman, 59-year-old senior civil lawyer SP Annamalai, 39-year-old Chew Sien Chee, 29-year-old criminal lawyer S Pathmanathan, and 60-year-old Triptipal Singh. The incidents took place between 1992 and last year.

The newspaper learnt that the police and the Attorney-General's chambers have already met several times as the investigations into the suspects widened.

It is, however, learnt that the investigations are being hampered as the bodies of the victims cannot be traced.

An Indian businessman, A Muthuraja, who came from Chennai, India, on a business trip in January this year, went missing after he met the lawyer brothers. His wife was here to lodge a formal report with the police.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar said last week's murders were not racially motivated and appealed against any speculation that could vitiate race relations.

Malaysia's 28 million population comprises majority Malays and has significant presence of ethnic Chinese and Indians.

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