JOHOR BARU: Two men have been charged over the brutal murder of a 44-year-old man at a petrol station in Taman Pelangi here last month.

The accused — Gan Jia Ji, 20, and Yip Kah Hou, 24 — nodded that they understood the charges after they were read out before magistrate Siti Hajar Ali on Thursday. However, no plea was recorded.

Gan is charged with murdering Tan Aik Chai, 45, on Dec 17, 2017 at around 7.30pm at the petrol station in Jalan Sri Pelangi. He is accused of having committed the crime together with five others who are still at large.

He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code with murder read together with Section 34 of the same Code.

Yip, meanwhile, is charged with murder and abetment of murder. He is abetting the crime with three others still at large.

Yip, who works as a restaurant helper, was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code with murder read together with Section 109 of the Penal Code for abetment and Section 34 of the same Code.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Syafiq Mohd Ghazali prosecuted the case while Chuah Shyue Chien represented Yip. Gan was unrepresented.

The court set Feb 13 for next mention while waiting for post-mortem results.

A video of the murder, in which Tan was stabbed and then run over twice by a car, shocked the nation and went viral.