The police did not rule out the possibility that the man could be a member of Israeli intelligence, though the suspect told authorities he had entered Malaysia to hunt down another Israeli citizen due to a family dispute.
“We do not fully trust this narrative as we suspect there may be another agenda,” Razarudin said, adding that the man had stayed at several hotels while in Malaysia.
Three Malaysians, including a married couple, were arrested on Friday and have been remanded for seven days on suspicion of supplying weapons and acting as a driver to the Israeli suspect, Razarudin told Reuters on Saturday.
A pistol was retrieved from a car belonging to the couple, he said.
Authorities have been put on high alert following the man’s arrest, with security beefed up for Malaysia’s king, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and other high-level figures.
Malaysia, a majority-Muslim country, is a staunch supporter of the Palestinians and has criticised Israel’s actions in the Gaza war. Malaysia is home to around 600 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
In 2018, a Palestinian scientist was shot dead in the Malaysian capital by two unidentified men in a killing that the Hamas militant group suggested was carried out by Israel’s Mossad intelligence service. Israel denied the allegations.
Source: CNA
