Police have identified the man who shot Arab Malaysian Bank founder Ahmad Hussain Najadi as 44-year-old Kong Swee Kwan and are also closing in on the motive for the murder.

KL CID chief Ku Chin Wah told reporters today the police had arrested three people yesterday who they believe can help solve the case.

They are a 42-year-old man who was at the scene of the crime, and two women who are 'trustees' of the Chinese temple, where Hussain Najadi was shot a week ago.

"Land is the issue," Ku said, adding that the people arrested so far would "shed light into the motive of the killing". He was speaking at the weekly police briefing at the Jalan Hang Tuah Police HQ.

NONE Ku said the gunman Kong is on the run but is believed to be still in Malaysia. Kong had previously been arrested for possession of stolen goods and extortion but has no murder record.

The latest arrest brings to four people arrested so far in relation to Hussain Najadi’s murder.

Previously, it was reported that a taxi driver, believed to have been ferrying Kong, was also arrested. Ku said that the taxi driver and a 42-year-old man, a Chinese man who is married with children and an odd job labourer, both knew the gunman. He surrendered himself to the police last night.

“The taxi driver led us to the recovery of one gun, a Walther 9mm... but it is not the weapon used in the murder,” Ku said. He added that the gun was recovered from a post box, where the taxi driver had been instructed to hide it.

Hussain, 75, was killed while his wife, Chong Mei Kuen, 49, was injured when they were shot from close range on July 29, by a gunman police suspect to be a hired killer, after they had discussions over a property deal at a Chinese temple on Lorong Ceylon.

In response to a question about Hussain’s wife, CID chief Ku said Chong had not been called in for questioning. “Until now she is not in a position to give any statement. She doesn’t want to give any statement,” he said.

However, police suspect the motive for the murder was over failed talks on a piece of nearby land belonging to the temple, which has been passed down for generations since 1936. Ku declined to reveal more details for now but said that Hussain was “neither the buyer nor seller”.

“He was just assisting the temple to make sure that the land is safe,” Ku said.

When probed for more information on the two trustees arrested, Ku revealed they were local women, aged 62 years and 47 years. They were said to be near the area where the murder occurred but were not an ‘inside party’ to the negotiations. They were also arrested in the vicinity of the temple.

Ku declined comment on who was ‘the buyer’ in the land negotiations but said only that “he claims to be a Datuk”.

Ku promised that he would reveal more information later as the case progresses.