S'porean man, 32, stabbed to death in JB nightclub, 5 S'porean suspects arrested: Shin Min

The four Singaporeans arrested on Mar. 20 and the deceased Singaporean, 32, murdered in Johor Bahru on Mar. 14 are believed to be acquainted with each other.

According to eyewitnesses, they got into an argument at a nightclub before things turned violent.

Three Singaporean men, aged between 23 and 29, and a 27-year-old Singaporean woman, were arrested following simultaneous operations conducted by the Singapore Police Force's Criminal Investigation Department.

The woman and one of the men were arrested after a five-hour standoff with police at a residential unit at Teban Gardens Road.

All four people who were arrested in Singapore have since been handed over to the Malaysian police to assist with their investigations.

A fifth Singaporean was arrested in Malaysia at the Johor checkpoint.

Fight started in nightclub

According to Shin Min Daily News, the Mar. 14 murder took place at Bayu Tasek commercial centre in Johor Bahru.

At the time of the incident, the suspects and the deceased were patronising Aston Club Southkey, a nightclub on the third floor of the centre.

The nightclub's owner told Shin Min that he learned from his staff that the deceased and the suspects possibly knew each other as they arrived together.

"They had some drinks, then got into an argument. As it was noisy in the nightclub at the time, we couldn't make out what they were arguing about," the boss said.

The argument escalated over time and got physical as they started shoving one another.

They were later asked by the nightclub staff to leave the premises.

As the group headed down to the ground floor, things continued to escalate, Shin Min wrote.

"We're not sure what happened afterwards. Someone stabbed the deceased. It was a terrifying scene," the boss shared.

About 10 people in fight: Security guard

The security guard who witnessed the incident told Shin Min that the incident took place at around 5am.

The guard alerted his supervisor when he saw a fight break out.

"They fought all the way from the nightclub's entrance, shouting and exchanging punches. A man suddenly collapsed when they reached the entrance of an electronics store," the guard recalled.

"It was chaotic and I was scared. Eventually, I saw bloodstains on the floor," the guard added.

According to the guard, there were about 10 people involved in the fight.

The guard added that, based on his recollection, the deceased had blood on his head.

His friends put him in a car and drove him to the hospital.

The security guard's supervisor shared that the suspects had fled by the time he arrived, which was within five minutes after he was notified about the fight.

"They had fled when I got there. At the time, the deceased still had a pulse. I heard he passed in the hospital," the supervisor pointed out.

He also said that his staff did not attempt to break up the fight or make video recordings due to safety concerns.

Electronics store CCTV did not capture fight

Shin Min reported that the man had collapsed on the road adjacent to a Courts store.

One Courts staff told the Chinese paper that she saw a large police presence when she showed up for work that day and later learned that a murder had taken place.

"There were about 10 police officers at the scene and they had set up a cordon. They also requested the closed-circuit television footage from our manager," she shared.

However, she added that the road was not in the CCTV's field of view, and so the store's camera did not capture the key moments of what happened.

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Top image via Shin Min Daily News