Selangor police chief Mazlan Mansor said the 38-year-old suspect, who is a deaf-mute, was detained at a shophouse at about 1am and was being remanded for a week from today.

“A police team from the Selangor police contingent headquarters raided the shophouse based on intelligence that the suspect lived there and had received treatment at a private clinic.

“The suspect confessed to the crime. He had no previous records. He worked at a furniture factory in Kepong and was the boyfriend of the youngest daughter of the elderly victims, who is also deaf-and-dumb,” he told reporters.

Mazlan said this after witnessing today the handing over of duties by outgoing Kuala Selangor district police chief Supt Ruslan Abdullah, who is going on mandatory retirement, to his deputy DSP Mohd Asri Abd Wahab, who will be the acting chief here.

In the 5.50am incident, Chia Tee Nang, 73, his wife Lim Mai Shak, 68, and their two grandsons, Ryan Chia, 9, and Chia Yuan Bin, 3, were believed to have been murdered before their house in Jalan Tepi Laut, Tanjung Sepat, was set on fire.

According to Mazlan, based on preliminary investigations, the motive was believed to be over debts and an argument that had taken place before the alleged killings.

“We are still waiting for the post-mortem reports on the actual cause of the deaths. We cannot declare yet whether the victims were killed before the house was set on fire with the bodies inside,” he said.