The rented house at Kampung Pisang, Machang Bubok in Bukit Mertajam, where the murders are believed to have taken place.
BUKIT MERTAJAM: It looks like any ordinary low-cost, single-storey house. But this little house in Machang Bubuk here has a horror story to tell. It is where Myanmar nationals were murdered and dismembered in brutal revenge killings.
Police have raided the house at Kampung Pisang, in a wooded area off the main road and have now sealed it off.
They found bloodstains in the house, although the murderers had given it a wash and had it repainted.
The killers had also returned the house key to the unsuspecting owner.
Penang police chief Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Wira Abdul Rahim Hanafi said the last two murders were believed to have taken place at the house, which was empty.
SDCP Abdul Rahim said the murder suspects were also believed to have rented another house six doors away.
They stayed there and brought their victims to the other house where they killed and dismembered them.
“Police have recovered three long machetes believed to be the weapons used by the suspects,” he said after visiting the houses yesterday.
Also present was state deputy CID chief Asst Comm P.R. Gunarajan.
SDCP Abdul Rahim said the house where the murders were committed had been rented by the suspects for the past four months.
“We are still investigating how many bodies had been cut up in the house,” he added.
He said police picked up another two suspects, in their 30s, on Penang island on Thursday night, taking the total number of suspects detained over the murders of Myanmar nationals to 17.
Fifteen Myanmar nationals, in their 20s to 40s, including the mastermind, have been picked up over the past two weeks in a police operation codenamed Ops Kelar, in connection with the murder of their fellow countrymen.
SDCP Abdul Rahim said following the arrest of the 17, police believe they have solved the murder cases involving eight of the victims.
“We are still in the midst of arresting more suspects.
“The operation will focus on 18 murder cases involving Myanmar nationals in Penang,” he said.
He added that police had also recovered a car which was believed to have been used by the suspects to transfer the body parts to other locations.
SDCP Abdul Rahim said revenge was believed to be the motive behind the killings.
It was reported that on Nov 24, a package containing a human head was found in front of a restaurant at Taman Impian Ria, Bukit Mertajam.
Other discoveries of human parts such as a headless torso, a hand and a left arm had been made recently.
It was also reported that there were 51 murders in the state this year, of which 18 victims were Malaysians and 33 foreigners.
