KUALA LUMPUR: Police have detained 15 people from Myanmar over a string of gruesome murders in a popular Malaysian tourist destination, and believe the killings are linked to ethnic unrest in their native country, reports said yesterday.
Public anxiety has risen in Malaysia’s historic state of Penang over the past few months as mutilated corpses or severed body parts have turned up — with at least 18 mysterious and unexplained murders of Myanmar nationals.
Authorities had made little comment until now but the state’s police chief was quoted yesterday saying they now believe the killings are linked to violent clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar.
