PETALING JAYA • Malaysian police have remanded for four more days from yesterday a man in connection with a fire which damaged six cars near an LRT station in Selangor on Monday.
The man, who was not named, was remanded to help investigations for allegedly committing mischief by fire or explosive substance, his lawyer Suraj Singh said.
Witnesses said the scorned man, who is in his mid-20s, threw a petrol bomb at the car of his wife's boyfriend after an argument. The carpark is located beside the Taman Jaya LRT station at the edge of Kuala Lumpur. The suspect is going through a divorce proceeding.
The fire quickly spread to the other cars parked there, causing billows of smoke in the area and leading to social media speculation that a bomb had exploded after some explosions were heard.
Police on Monday quickly doused the speculation, saying the smoke was caused by fire set to a car.
Petaling Jaya district police chief Mohd Zani Che Din said the 20-year-old boyfriend of the woman was walking to his car when the woman's husband approached on a motorcycle at about 1.30pm.
"The boyfriend realised the man was about to throw the bottle at the car, which had the door open. The woman was inside the car. She managed to jump out before the car went up in flames," said Assistant Commissioner Zani.
Three explosions were heard and the suspect fled the scene, leaving behind his slippers and a helmet.
"The fire quickly spread to five other cars. It grew too big for some of the passers-by to put out," said Mr Zani.
A spokesman for the Fire and Rescue Department said firemen took about half an hour to extinguish the flames. "Four cars were badly damaged, while two others were 20 per cent burnt," he said.
To quell the speculation about a bomb explosion, police chief Khalid Abu Bakar on Monday sent out a tweet to make it clear that there was no bomb blast.
"There was no bomb explosion. @PDRMsia is investigating a case of mischief by fire," he posted, using the Malay acronym for the Royal Police of Malaysia.
THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
