Elizabeth Salang, 42, said that three days before the accident, Nicolester, 20, sent her a WhatsApp message saying he wanted to take leave in December and come home and take some photos with her and his grandfather wearing his graduate police cadet uniform.

“He told me he would wear his white uniform and take a photo with my father (Salang Kaya) and me, and somehow I felt uneasy,” Elizabeth told reporters at her home yesterday.

She said she only knew of Nicholester’s death after receiving a call from a policeman where her son was stationed at 8am on Sunday informing her, her eldest son had died in a road crash while chasing two suspects in a car.

Nicolester’s partner, Lance-Corporal Mohammad Fadhirul Musa, 32, was seriously injured when their patrol car overturned while chasing two suspects in a car at Jalan Kangkar Tebrau-Jalan Tun Teja Johor Bahru early that morning.

Salang Kaya, 76, said his grandson had always been interested in an army or police career and joined the police in Kuching in November 2019 before completing his training in May this year.

He said he and Elizabeth had taken care of Nicolester and his three other siblings from young following their parents’ divorce.

“After he finished his training, he was posted to Johor. During our daily conversations, I would ask him about his day. The evening before the incident, I called him and he told me he was on patrol duty from midnight till 8am the next day.

“I told him to be careful and to keep safe,” he said.

Nicolester will be accorded an official police funeral at the Nirvana Memorial Park cemetery on Thursday morning.