One of the five men shot dead in Sungai Nibong in Penang early on Monday morning, J Gobinath, was given an elaborate funeral in Butterworth yesterday afternoon.

During the ceremony, Gobinath, 31, was referred to as the ‘King of Butterworth'.

penang shooting gopi funeral gengster oriental daily 210813 02 According to the Chinese-language Oriental Daily News , more than 100 people - not counting family members and relatives - showed up to pay their last respects.

Many joined the funeral march, riding motorcycles.

Along the way to the cemetery, some of the motorcyclists let off firecrackers and held up a banner with '04' on it, believed to represent an underworld society.

Gobinath's coffin was carried by a group of young men, believed to be his friends. Some of those present also waved flags with the '04' number.

A white catafalque preceded the march, with large portraits of Gobinath on both sides. On one side were the words ‘King of Butterworth R.I.P'.

As the procession was a long one that stopped several times, traffic along Jalan Raja Uda was clogged for a while.

One of those at the funeral told reporters that Gobinath was single and had a lot of friends, and that he had been kind to his friends and family members.

'04' graffiti in Kuala Selangor

In another development, '04 RIP' was found painted on the outer wall of a police station in Kuala Langat.

This has been seen as a challenge to the police after the shooting in Penang which has been linked to the 'O4 gang'.

gengster graffiti on police station wall 210813 Sin Chew Daily reported that the same graffiti was found in several places in Banting town, such as on an abandoned police booth, a wall and signboard along the road.

The police believe the graffiti was painted early yesterday morning or about midnight the previous day.

They see it as a show of discontent against the crackdown on criminals, but are not sure who did this or how many were involved.

Selangor deputy police chief A Thaiveegan In a statement issued after visiting the Kuala Langat police station later, acting Selangor police chief A Thaiveegan (right) condemned the vandals as being "impertinent, disrespectful of authority and immoral".

He also visited the locations in Banting where the grafitti has appeared.

At a press conference, he said 152 people have been investigated to date in the Kuala Langat district, under the ongoing Ops Cantas Khas that is intended to crack down on crime.

Of these, 32 have been remanded for further investigations as they are suspected to be involved in criminal and drug offences, and have a previous criminal record, he added.