The biological father of Nurul Nadhirah Abdullah, five, who was detained by police to assist investigations into the brutal murder of the girl, has been found to be not involved in the case.

Johor police chief Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said investigations however found the father in his 30s to be a Philippines’ citizen who was in the country without any valid travel documents.

“We forwarded the investigation papers (IPs) to the public prosecutor who instructed that he be deported to his country of origin as soon as possible,” he he told a press conference in Johor Baru today.

Mohd Mokhtar added that the individual responsible for the girl’s murder was in police custody and would be charged in court soon.

He said police now were still waiting for several reports from the Chemistry Department to complete the investigation report befor the IPs were submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

He said three suspects held in connection with the case, who were all in their 30s including a woman, all of whom were drug addicts, would be brought to court tomorrow to have their remand extended.

Meanwhile, in KOTA BARU, Kelantan police chief Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said police had detained a man who is believed to have sent a threatening message via SMS to Dirang’s mother on March 8.

He said the man, a 45-year-old former soldier, was detained at a house in  Pulai Chondong, Machang near Kota Baru at around 3am today.

“Police seized three handphones from him and one of it was found to have been used to send the text message to Dirang’s mother. We will be handing him over to Johor police for further action,” he told a press conference at the Kelantan police headquarters in Kota Baru.

Johor police had asked their Kelantan counterparts to track down the person who had sent a SMS message to extort RM10,000 from Dirang’s mother Roselyn Alan, 25, in order to get back her daughter.

Dirang went missing on March 1 after going out to buy instant noodles and eggs at a sundry shop near her flats in Bandar Seri Alam near Johor Baru.

Police confirmed that the charred remains which were found at an oil palm plantation in Nusa Damai, Masai last Thursday were those of Dirang after the DNA test matched those of her mother.

- Bernama