No ransom asked for his abduction

A dispute believed to have stemmed from love and revenge between a 31-year-old oil and gas engineer and another couple resulted in his murder in Johor Baru.

A source told The Star that Mr Tan Chuen Take, who worked in Singapore and lived in Ulu Tiram, had tried to court someone else's girlfriend, leading to his death.

He had reportedly gone missing on June 26, a day after he was last seen via his residential area's CCTV footage leaving his house at around 5pm, reported The Star.

Johor police chief Commissioner Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd said that a 22-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man were arrested in Taman Indahpura, Kulai, at 3am on Friday.

He said the arrest led to the discovery of the victim's body at around 6pm. It was buried in a forest near Kulai, beside the northbound of the Second Link Expressway.

"The couple abducted the victim without asking for a ransom from his family, and we believe that the motive for the abduction and murder was jealousy and revenge," Comm Wan Ahmad said on Saturday.

Investigations are ongoing to find out whether the woman was involved in helping her boyfriend bury the victim after murdering him, Comm Wan Ahmad said, adding that police were looking into the possibility of the involvement of more suspects.

KILLED: Mr Tan Chuen Take’s body was buried in a forest. PHOTO: CHINA PRESS

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Comm Wan Ahmad said both suspects were being remanded to help with investigations into the kidnapping and murder.

A source said Mr Tan's body was found with wounds and burn marks.

The victim, who is from Penang, was the only son among five siblings and started working in Singapore about two years ago.

But when he could not be found or contacted, his employer in Singa­pore also lodged a police report.

At the time the report was made in Singapore, Mr Tan did not show up for work and he also did not apply for leave.

It was reported that his elder sister Tan Siu Mei, 36, said the family sensed something amiss as he did not reply any of their family member's calls or text messages on June 25.

His father, Mr Tan Yong Chun, said his son was filial and would call him daily.

His father said he did not put much thought into it when his son stopped calling, thinking that he was caught up with work.