Top banker shot dead in KL carpark, wife injured

KUALA LUMPUR - In the second high-profile shooting in Malaysia in three days, Arab- Malaysian Banking Group founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi, 75, was gunned down on Monday afternoon at a carpark in central KL.

His wife Cheong Mei Kuen, 49, was also shot but survived.

The incident came just after last Saturday's shooting of Mr R. Sri Sanjeevan, 29, who headed a crime watch group and had exposed alleged links between the police and underworld figures. He was shot when he stopped his car at a traffic light in Bahau in Negeri Sembilan. He survived.

On Monday, Mr Hussain was killed at about 1.50pm at a carpark near a temple in Lorong Ceylon, as he and his wife were walking towards their car.

According to The Star daily, closed-circuit television footage seen by police showed a suspect firing shots at the couple.

An eyewitness said he saw a man walking towards the couple. "Then I heard gunshots and saw the couple crumple. I ran to safety when I saw the gunman running towards me," he told The Malaysian Insider website.

Mr Hussain was shot in his chest and died at the scene, while his wife suffered injuries to her hand.

The Star said he held an Iranian passport, but the New Straits Times said he was a Bahraini. His wife is a Malaysian. Arab-Malaysian Banking Group, now called AmBank Group, is Malaysia's fifth largest lender. It was founded in 1975 by Mr Hussain.

Kuala Lumpur Deputy CID chief Khairi Ahrasa was quoted as saying that three men aged between 35 and 40 had waited for the couple to come out of the temple, while Mr Hussain was in a discussion with a man about the trading of shares.

"After the meeting, the couple left the temple before walking towards the parking lot, when a man came and fired several shots at them," he said.

The trio escaped in a taxi with a false registration plate. Said Mr Khairi: "The motive has yet to be ascertained, but we believe it has something to do with business."

Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.