Murder leads to arrest of "illegal football bookie"

"It was described as a gangland execution-style shooting. It was ruthless - six bullets pumped into KTV nightclub owner Lim Hock Soon, 41 - in his flat, in the morning, with his family the next room. Gangland? Execution-style? In a country said to be relatively crime-free?" asked Singapore's New Paper.

The murder on 15 February lead to yesterday's arrest of suspected gunman Tan Chor Jin, 39, in a five-star Kuala Lumpur hotel. Malaysian police conducted an early morning raid at the Grand Plaza Park Royal Hotel, arresting two Singaporean men, and four Malaysians. Three of the Malaysians were women. One was Tan's Malaysian wife.

The gang occupied two rooms on the 13th floor of the hotel, and were caught by surprise when the police moved in. Six semi-automatic pistols, 203 bullets, one silencer and 4kg of ketamine estimated to be worth $87,540 were seized.

Tan is said to have been an illegal football bookie belonging to the Ang Soon Tong secret society. He is believed to have run his operations in Singapore's Geylang.

The man Tan allegedly murdered is also said to have been linked to an illegal moneylending business and the infamous loanshark Chua Tiong Tiong, better known as Ah Long San, who was jailed in 2001.