THE two moneychangers ambused by four gunmen in a daring raid and shootout at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) were there to hand over the bag containing $1.5 million to two Singaporean businessmen, said Malaysian news reports on Friday.

The Star said the two Singaporeans are suspected of trying to 'transport the money out of the airport to Singapore'.

The New Straits Times said one of the moneychangers is also a Singaporean, who has been identified as Mr Nagur Gani.

NST said Mr Gani, who was injured in the shootout, was in tears when its reporter met him at the Putrajaya Hospital when he was warded.

He was too distraught to talk.

The ambush happened when the moneychangers and their two armed guards got down from their car outside Gate 7 and were walking towards the departure hall at about 7.30pm on Wednesday.

Four gunmen appeared, two in front and two at the back, and they started opening fire with automatic pistols at the four .

The armed escort returned fire but was hot in the leg, along with the moneychangers.

The gunmen then cooly walked up to them, took the bag with $1.5 million in Singapore currency and fled in two getaway cars, believed to be a BMW and a Toyota Hilux.

The shoot-out, which lasted for about five minutes, left five injured.

The Star on Friday said Malaysian police have obtained photofits of the armed robbers involved in the daring heist and are investigating if it was an inside job.

It said that police have sketched out at least three of the six suspects including a woman based on descriptions given by eyewitnesses including KLIA workers.

'However, we will not release the photofits to the media or the public just yet. It is for investigation purposes and we will inform the media when we are ready to release them,' said Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar..

'We also do not rule out the possibility of an inside job but we have to get statements from all victims who were seriously wounded in the incident before we can establish it was.'

The Star added that that police had recorded brief statements from an injured policeman and one of the two moneychangers.

Three others - a security guard escorting the moneychangers, a Nepali worker and moneychange will be interviewed soon.

DCP Khalid said police are also checking if the suspects involved were part of notorious armed robbery gangs such as the Mamak Gang, Deva Gang or Botak Innasi.

'We have informed our counterparts along the borders to beef up their surveillance and patrol as we believe the suspects would attempt to leave the country,' he said.