Five dead in suspected arson

Five people, including four family members, were killed when the cabin they were living in Jalan Sungai Buloh was razed in a suspected arson attack.

The victims were identified as Poritish Kumar, 32, Tounsari Das, 28, their two children two-year-old Prema and eight-month-old Shilpa. All of them are Bangladeshis.

Also killed in the incident was a local man identified only as 50-year-old Ah Yong. He was living in a partition in the cabin.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamed said all five were asleep when the fire hit them about 5am on Wednesday.

He said the local man and Poritosh are believed to be working in a second-hand car dealer located in front of the cabin.

However police are still investigating the background of the victims and how long Paritosh and his family had been in the country.

“We could not find any of their documents at the scene. The documents must have been destroyed in the blaze,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday.

The case has been classified under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder according to evidence found at the scene.

ACP Arjunaidi said police believe the fire was a pre-planned incident by someone known to the victims or the owner of the car dealer.

Police have contacted the employer of the victims and were in the midst of recording his statement.

Initial investigation also revealed that the cabin door was locked outside with a wire.

Paritosh was believed have tried to escape the fire as his body was found near the locked door.

The Fire and Rescue Department from Sungai Buloh sent two fire engines and 12 men to the scene at about 5.30am after receiving a distress call 15 minutes earlier and took them 20 minutes to put out the fire.