Missing DPP Anthony Kevin Morais has been found dead, with his body stuffed in a concrete-filled drum, police said.
Federal Police (Bukit Aman) Criminal Investigation Department director Mohmad Salleh said the drum was recovered near Sungai Klang at Persiaran Subang Mewah in the USJ1 housing estate.
He told reporters at the scene that the body was found after police investigated seven suspects, among them a woman and boy, who were detained yesterday. One of them led police to the recovery of the body.
Morais, 55, the deputy chief of the Appellate and Trial Division in the Attorney-General’s Chambers, was last seen leaving his condominium unit at Menara Duta, Kuala Lumpur, on Sept 4 for his office in Putrajaya, driving a grey Proton Perdana car with registration number WA6264Q.
Mohmad ( photo ) said: “We sought the aid of the Fire and Rescue Department and a pathologist to recover the drum at 8am after the suspect pointed it out to us. The body was found in the drum after it was cut open,” he said.
He said police divers were deployed to search for the drum in marshland and a crane hauled up the drum.
“The operation began at 6am and ended at about 10.30 am,” he said.
Asked whether the body was in one piece, Mohmad said it could not be established as yet because “the body was in a gunny sack and we did not find out whether it had been severed”.
“We will inform you later, after the post-mortem,” he said.
On the suspects, Mohmad said police believed that only five of the suspects, all men aged between 22 and 52, were involved and not the woman and the boy.
Mohmad said the Jalan Duta CCTV camera recording had assisted police in the case and after 13 days of investigation, on Sept 15, these seven people were arrested.
‘Murder could have been motivated by revenge’
He said police believed that the murder of Morais could have been motivated by revenge and was linked to a trial handled by Morais involving a doctor of a military hospital.
The 52-year-old doctor was one of the seven suspects being held under remand, he said, adding that he was arrested yesterday in Rawang.
He said the police were looking for more suspects.
Mohmad said police seized three vehicles, one of them a four-wheel-drive Mitsubishi Triton that was apparently used to knock Morais’ car along Jalan Duta on Sept 4 as well as a Honda Accord and a Proton Persona, in the Klang Valley and Penang.
They also seized cash amounting to RM17,100 in Penang and RM15,000 in the Klang Valley, he said.
He also said that police seized a receipt for the purchase of cement, sand and gravel issued by a hardware shop near where the body was found.
Meanwhile, at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital mortuary, Morais’ youngest brother Richard thanked the police for having found his brother’s body.
He said Kevin was professional in his job and kept his work confidential.
He said his brother’s death was not an ordinary one and that justice would prevail.
Asked whether the family had heard anything from the hospital, he said: “So far, the doctors have said nothing. Let them conduct the post-mortem first.”
Richard was overcome and fainted when the body of Kevin was brought to the mortuary at 1.05pm.
Another brother, David Ramesh, 51, had been at the mortuary since 11.30am.
Charles, 53, another brother, was flying to Malaysia from the United States.
David Ramesh told reporters the result of the post-mortem would only be known in two days’ time because of the condition of the body.
- Bernama
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