SIBU: Police have arrested a foreign national to help facilitate investigation into the fire incident which destroyed a textile cum furniture shop at Sibu Jaya last Friday at about 3.50am.
District police chief ACP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit said the 43-year-old suspect is being remanded for three days, pending police investigation.
In the pre-dawn fire, a two-storey textile cum furniture shop was razed with the first floor suffering 20 per cent damage and ground floor totally gutted.
The fire also damaged some 70 per cent of the goods, including textile, furniture and carpets.
Following the fire incident, firemen from the Fire and Rescue Department combed the area and found a lighter at the scene. They subsequently lodged a police report.
Footage from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) showed the suspect entering and leaving the premises before the fire broke out.
Stanley said police then contacted the suspect and told him to report to the police station but he refused.
“When he refused to come, we had to go to his shop to arrest him,” he added.
It was learnt that both the suspect and victim were business partners. The suspect had been in business here for the past 10 years with branches in Bintulu and Selangau while the victim just started his business about six months ago.
The victim got his supplies from the suspect and it was believed that business rivalry could have led the suspect to torch the victim’s shop.