JOHOR BARU • Malaysian police said yesterday that they have identified the prime suspect in the brutal murder of a 44-year-old man at a petrol station in Taman Pelangi in Johor Baru last month, The Star reported.

State police chief Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said the knife used by the suspect is believed to have been disposed on the road to the beach-side town of Desaru in Kota Tinggi.

He said 14 suspects were detained for questioning, and 11 have been released.

"Initial investigations showed that one of the three suspects on remand is the prime suspect in the case," Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader told reporters.

The police chief said three of the suspects had also been involved in robbery cases in Kulai and Batu Pahat. "We are going to submit the investigation papers on the murder and the robbery cases to the deputy public prosecutor's office soon," he added.

In the Dec 17 incident, the victim, who has since been identified as a triad member, was dragged and stabbed by four suspects before he was run over by a white BMW car twice.

An 82-second video clip of the incident recorded by a bystander, which went viral, showed that during the scuffle, the victim was stabbed and left lying on the ground.

Firecrackers were then thrown from the car towards where the victim lay. The assailants' car then circled the petrol station and ran over the man, before reversing and running over him again.

The police previously said that the murder was motivated by a drug debt, although there had been speculation that it was sparked by a turf dispute between two rival underworld groups in Johor.

Police last week recovered the BMW used in the murder at an oil palm plantation in Pontian, Johor, some 68km away from the murder scene.

The abandoned vehicle was found by a member of the public with its registration plate missing.