Arrangements being made to send Dr Fadi’s remains back to Gaza for burial, even as talk circulates that the Hamas member was assassinated by the Israeli Mossad.
Police today refuted that the man in a viral photo was the main suspect in the Palestine university lecturer’s murder case.
Wangsa Maju district police chief Superintendent Mohamad Roy Suhaimi Sarif when said police yesterday detained a man but he has since been released after documentation process.
“I can only confirm that we detained an Indian national at 1.45pm yesterday from the same condominium, but he was released after documentation process.
“The man that we detained is not the same man in the photo that has been circulated over social media,” he said.
Roy said no seizure of weapons or drugs occurred when police detained the man.
“I cannot elaborate much on the case as it may affect the investigation.
“The irresponsible act of certain parties to disseminate false information will disturb the investigation,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to a source, the man in the viral photo was arrested by Brickfields district criminal investigation department.
Police seized a pistol, a magazine, nine bullets, cash, nine packets of cannabis and a flight ticket.
Brickfields district police chief Assistant Commissioner Ruslan Khalid confirmed the arrest but declined to elaborate further.
Police also denied they took almost an hour to respond to the incident.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said that a man in a viral video, which was uploaded on YouTube claimed that he was present when the shooting took place and tried to call the police three to four times and did not get any response.
“The video, which was in Arabic, was later translated and posted on Facebook by another person.
“He made an error in the translation saying that the man had tried to call the police 43 times,” Fuzi said.
He added that the Facebook post was later taken down with the uploader admitting he made a mistake.
“However, the video is full of lies as we received the first call at 6.41am and dispatched a patrol car to the scene at 6.44am, and the car arrived at the scene at 6.49am,” he said.
He also said the video currently spreading online was fake news that was tarnishing the reputation of the Royal Malaysian Police and the country as a whole in the international eye.
“We urge the man in the video to come forward to shed light on the issue,” Fuzi said.
Dr Fadi MR Albatsh, 35, was a member of the Islamist organisation Hamas.
He was gunned down by two suspects in front of Idaman Puteri condominium in Setapak when he was walking to Surau Medan Idaman some 300 metres away to lead subuh prayer at 6am yesterday.
Two men in full-faced helmets were said to have waited 20 minutes for him in the dark on their high-powered motorcycle, believed to be a BMW GS dual purpose off-road/on-road superbike.
When the assassins spotted him, they fired 10 shots at him.
Four shots hit the victim in the head and body, killing him on the spot.
Dr Fadi, who is also an iman, leaves behind a wife and three children, aged six, four and one.
It is learnt that he had lived in Malaysia with his wife and three children for about 10 years. He is said to be well-known locally.
His body was sent to Selayang Hospital for post-mortem.
The condominium where Dr Fadi lived was mostly occupied by expatriates and foreigners from Arab countries and Nigeria.
There is talk that Dr Fadi might have been an assassination target of the Israeli secret service Mossad, known for its meticulously-planned operations against Hamas.
Dr Fadi, who held a PhD in electrical engineering and was a weapons expert, previously worked at the Palestinian Energy Authority as an operation/maintenance engineer in Gaza West substation plant.
He received his PhD in electrical engineering from the Universiti Malaya and during the course of his study, published 18 scholarly pieces of research which were featured in a number of international journals.
He was reported to have won a number of prestigious scientific awards, including one from the Malaysian government in 2016.
Alongside his scientific career, Fadi was also involved with Islamic organisations such as Humanitarian Care Malaysia (MyCare).
He was also a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Malaysia activist.
BDS is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality, with the objective of utilising international pressure to end what it describes as Israeli apartheid and colonialism.
The New Straits Times reported that Gaza-based Palestinian news site Safa said family members, in a statement, said Mossad had carried out the attack,
Senior Islamic jihad leader Khaled al-Batash had also accused Mossad of being responsible for the assassination.
In an interview with pan-Arab television network Al-Miyadin, Khaled called on the Malaysian authorities to conduct a “comprehensive and rapid investigation” into the killing before the assassins could escape.
Meanwhile, International Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (IESCO) general manager Dr Mahmoud Shakfa, said Dr Fadi’s father has appealed to have his remains sent back to Gaza. The father has not seen his son for the past seven years.
“His father contacted us and expressed his hope to bury him in his hometown, Jabalia.
“Upon the family members’ request, the embassies of Palestine and Egypt in Malaysia is arranging and coordinating to facilitate the procedure, it may take two to three days,” he said.
Family members are awaiting the arrival of Dr Fadi’s brother from Germany.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZv6C-vxDq8
Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Philippines and Maldives, Datuk Dr Anwar H Al Agha said Dr Fadi was supposed to leave for Turkey for a conference today.
Datuk Dr Anwar H Al Agha (2nd from left) visits the Selayang Hospital.
“He was a kind, friendly and a quiet person, he mixed well with everyone,” he said.