Malaysian police have arrested a fugitive Cambodian ex-police chief who fled murder charges and has been hiding out in Singapore and Malaysia.

Deputy Internal Security minister Mohamad Johari Baharum said Heng Pov had been caught Tuesday in the suburb of Bandar Sunway, south of Kuala Lumpur.

"He was arrested yesterday at Bandar Sunway," Johari told AFP . "He was caught for overstaying his visa."

"We are still trying to get more information from the police on the circumstances in which he was arrested," he added.

Heng Pov was convicted and sentenced in absentia on Sept 18 for conspiracy in connection with the killing of municipal court judge Sok Sethamony, who was shot in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.

He is also alleged to be involved in failed assassination attempts on a newspaper publisher, a prosecutor, an electricity authority official and the national military police chief.

Overstaying visa

Johari said Heng Pov was being detained at Royal Malaysian Police Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and would be handed over to immigration authorities.

"He is being detained under immigration law because he had overstayed his visa," he said. "He did not commit anything (any crimes) except he had overstayed."

The Cambodian embassy in Malaysia said it had no information on Heng Pov's arrest.

Malaysian and Cambodian police have been conducting an intensive search for Heng Pov, who fled murder charges in Cambodia in late July.

He then headed to Singapore where he was arrested in early September for overstaying his visa. He was later released and allowed to travel to Malaysia because Singapore and Cambodia do not have an extradition treaty.

Under Malaysia's immigration laws, Cambodian nationals can enter the country and stay for a month without applying for a visa in advance.

RM30 fine

The manhunt intensified last week when Malaysian police were joined by their Cambodian counterparts in a bid to arrest the former police chief.

Malaysia's immigration department said normal procedures would see Heng Pov fined and deported for breaching visa regulations.

"Normally in cases like this, where he overstayed his visa, we will compound him and then deport him to his home country, to Cambodia," immigration department enforcement director, Ishak Mohamed, told AFP .

"Under immigration law he has overstayed his visa, and since it is less than 30 days, we can (fine) him for RM30 for every day he overstays," he added.

Police were not immediately available for comment.

Malaysia does not accept asylum seekers, nor does it have an extradition treaty with Cambodia.