Rohingya man remanded over discovery of human remains in two sacks

KANGAR: A 38-year-old Rohingya man has been remanded for seven days until Oct 19 to assist in investigations into the discovery of human remains.

The suspect arrived at the Kangar Court Complex at 9.46am before being escorted out at 10.09am after the remand proceedings concluded.

Magistrate Nurul Natasha Rizal issued the remand order to facilitate investigations under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.

Kangar district police chief Assistant Commissioner Yusharifuddin Mohd Yusop said the suspect, who holds a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card, was arrested at a house in Kuala Perlis at noon yesterday.

He said police also seized a smartphone and a SIM card during the raid to assist in the investigation.

"Preliminary investigations found that no confession had been obtained from the suspect, who claimed he only learned about the discovery of the remains through a WhatsApp group.

"The suspect works as a contract labourer and had worked in Sungai Limau and Kota Sarang Semut, Kedah, over the past two months," he said in a statement.

Yusharifuddin said checks found that the suspect had a previous drug-related criminal record under Section 39A(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act in 2022.

However, an initial urine screening test found no evidence of drug use, he added.

On July 26, human skeletal remains were found in a decaying sack at an orchard opposite a rice mill in Kampung Behor Mali here. The case was initially classified as sudden death (SDR).

A second white sack containing human bone fragments was found on Aug 5 on land reserved for the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada), about 31.1 metres from the first discovery site.

Police subsequently reclassified the case as murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code.