A 24-year-old woman, believed to be a foreign domestic worker, was arrested yesterday for the suspected murder of a 70-year-old woman at a flat in Choa Chu Kang.

The Straits Times understands that the suspect is a maid working in the victim's household.

The police said last night that it had received a call at 3.09pm, requesting assistance at the residential unit.

Upon arrival, the 70-year-old woman was found lying motionless at the flat and was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene at 3.29pm.

Police have classified the case as murder.

The suspect will be charged in court tomorrow, said the police, adding that investigations are ongoing.

Police cordons were set up at the lift lobby of the block and officers could be seen inside the flat when ST visited the scene yesterday evening.

Residents interviewed were shocked to hear about the case.

Mr Ricky Lau, 54, who lives in a fifth-storey unit in the same block, said he and neighbours were shocked to see many police officers at the block yesterday as the neighbourhood is usually peaceful and quiet.

"I asked around and was told that a maid allegedly killed her employer and the police couldn't find the maid," he told ST.

Ms Kink San Nwe, 28, a sales agent who lives in a nearby block, said she heard that the suspect is from Myanmar.

"Things don't usually happen in this neighbourhood, so I was surprised. I didn't believe there was a murder at first."