Perak police chief Noor Hisam Nordin said those arrested, five men and a woman, include the family members of the main suspect.

“An investigation is ongoing to determine their roles in the case. We are also investigating the cause of the incident and the relationship between the suspect and the deceased,” Buletin TV3 reported him as saying.

The 62-year-old victim was found in the backseat of a Toyota Avanza, with her head covered in a plastic bag. An autopsy determined that she died of suffocation.

Noor Hisam said police have identified the woman.

The discovery of the body came after police pursuit of a car being driven suspiciously in Simpang Pulai.

The driver refused to stop his vehicle, and instead drove faster, stopping later near an oil palm plantation.

A struggle then broke out between him and a policeman, before the driver seized the policeman’s service pistol and shot him. He then stabbed the 26-year-old policeman before fleeing with the gun.