A 52-year-old woman was killed in what appeared to be a snatch theft attempt here yesterday.
In the 6am incident at Km8.9 of Jalan Skudai, three men, believed to be foreigners, each riding a motorcycle, allegedly boxed in D. Ganesh, 36, and his sister-in-law, Alamelu Ramasamy, 52, who was pillion riding.
One of the men was said to have tried to snatch Alamelu's pouch bag, causing her to fell backwards and Ganesh to lose control of his machine. Alamelu died on the spot.
Ganesh, who stays with his brother and sister-in-law in Taman Universiti here, was sending Alamelu to the JB Sentral bus station to take a bus to Singapore, where she worked as a cleaner, when the incident happened.
The incident caused a traffic jam as motorists slowed down to catch a glimpse of what had happened. Police forensic personnel were seen collecting evidence at the scene.
Johor police chief Datuk Mokhtar Shariff said police were trying to ascertain if the incident was a snatch theft case.
"The victim's belongings were intact and there are reasonable doubts as the victim was said to have a history of breathing difficulties and asthma," he said.
"There is a possibility that Alamelu died of cardiopulmonary arrest or in layman's term, a heart attack."
Police would be recording a statement from Ganesh once he recovered from the minor injuries he sustained from the fall, he added.
A source said snatch theft gangs were rampant along the stretch between 5.45am and 7.30am, targetting the thousands of motorcyclists heading for their workplace in Singapore.
