Police detain neighbour over murder of school clerk

Johor police detained a man believed to be involved in the brutal murder of a religious school clerk in an incident at Taman Setia Kasih Sungai Terap, Bukit Pasir here, on Monday.

Johor CID Chief, SAC Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the 30-year-old suspect, who was the nearest neighbour of the victim in the housing estate, was detained at 6pm today.

"The suspect is a government official who is married and has two children," he said in a media statement tonight.

The press had earlier reported that a religious school clerk, Nurul Shahira Mohamed Yatim, 29, was found lying with strangle marks on her neck in front of the door of the master bedroom of her home in Taman Setia Kasih, on Monday.

Her body was found by neighbours after the engine of her Honda Civic was left on for four hours beginning at 2pm, while the driver's door of her car and the door to her house were left open which made her neighbour curious and began to look for her.

Kamarul Zaman said the suspect was detained after failing to give a satisfactory statement during investigation.