Malaysian authorities today repatriated a fugitive Singaporean police officer suspected of a gruesome double murder that has shocked the city-state, officials confirmed.
Car workshop owner Tan Boon Sin, 67, was found dead in his home Wednesday while his 42-year-old son's body was found a kilometre away after being dragged under a car owned by the elderly victim, leaving a trail of blood along a busy road.
A Singapore Police Force (SPF) spokesman told AFP that the suspect, Senior Staff Sergeant Iskandar Rahmat, 34, was arrested by Malaysian police on yesterday night and repatriated today.
The spokesman said police were investigating the link between the victims and Iskandar, but added that the police officer had attended to a theft complaint filed by the elder Tan in November last year. Iskandar was subsequently reassigned to another position.
The gruesome double murder has gripped Singapore, which prides itself on its low crime rate.
According to official statistics, the number of murders in Singapore hit a 20-year low of 11 in 2012, down from 16 in 2011.
Many Singaporeans took to social media to express outrage at the double murder that took place in broad daylight, and reports that the younger Tan was run over and dragged under the car driven by the suspect as he was fleeing the murder scene.
Interior Minister Teo Chee Hean said the alleged involvement of an officer had "tarnished the reputation of the police".
"His actions, if proven, have abused the trust placed in him, and betrayed his colleagues in the police force who serve faithfully and dutifully," Teo, who is also deputy prime minister, was quoted as saying by local media.
