KEY POINTS:
Three of the four people last night arrested over the killing of liquor store owner Navtej Singh can now be named.
Mr Singh, 30, was shot in the chest at close range during the armed robbery of his Manurewa store on Saturday night. He died in Middlemore Hospital
24 hours later.
The latest arrests followed the appearance in court yesterday of three other people charged over Mr Singh's death, two of them brothers.
At a court appearance at Manukau District Court earlier today Judge Andree Wittens granted one man name suppression until a pre-depositions hearing on August 6.
He declined to continue the interim name suppression of two others accused of murder, aggravated robbery and armed robbery when they reappeared in court at 2.15pm.
They are Myron Robert Felise, 20, from Manurewa - occupation unknown - and 19-year-old Jason Naseri of no fixed abode.
Their defence lawyer, Shane Taite, had applied for continued name suppression for both men.
He told the court that Felise had elderly grandparents, 83 and 84, who had been distraught to hear of the arrest of Felise's younger brother - Tino Faamele Felise, aged 17 - who appeared in court yesterday charted with Mr Singh's murder, aggravated robbery and armed robbery.
But Crown prosecutor Kirsten Gray said police were unable to find any person with the names given to them by Felise as his grandparents' and opposed name suppression.
Unemployed Otara man Eti Filoa, 23, was named at this morning's hearing. He and the man whose name is suppressed until August 6, face armed robbery charges.
The accused stood in the dock with their heads bowed for much of the proceedings.
Lawyers indicated that two of the men would apply for bail next week.
There were a handful of supporters in court, with at least one of the defendants' parents were among them.
Police not looking for others
Today police said they were happy the seven people now behind bars were all that were involved in the planning and execution of the raid on Mr Singh's liquor store, and they were not looking for anyone else.
However, police warned if they found anyone who had harboured the seven men since the shooting, they would be charged.
"If we find others who have helped these four in terms of any aid given before during or after (the fatal raid) then they will also be open to the law and we will be arresting them too," Detective Inspector Jim Gallagher from the Counties Manukau police said.
He said the big police team working on the case was particularly pleased it could give the family good news.
"We are relieved to have been in the position to have brought this sort of result reasonably promptly for the benefit of Mr Singh's family and his community.
"They are lovely people and they cannot comprehend at all the actions of these individuals that have brought short the life of Mr Singh through what they did last Saturday night in the shop.
"There is no way they can comprehend the nature of people who have done what they have done."
Police are still appealing for sightings of a white Mitsubishi Challenger, seen around Riverton Drive at the time the raid on the liquor shop took place.
Mr Gallagher police will be executing search warrants in the hunt for the missing pieces of the .22 calibre rifle used to shoot Mr Singh.
Police were also looking for telephone cards, believed to have been dumped near the old Homai railway station by Dalgety Drive in Manurewa.
Family grieves
The latest arrests came shortly after Mr Singh's funeral yesterday and a family statement saying they were "grieving and speechless" at their loss.
Mr Singh had three young daughters and yesterday's funeral in Manurewa was the first of two the family must endure.
Mr Singh's widow, Harjinder Kaur, was still trying to cope with the trauma of her husband's slaying when her grandfather died soon after hearing the news.
Jagir Singh, thought to be 80, died on Wednesday and the family said it was the grief of Mr Singh's death that killed him.
The family put out an emotional message thanking all the people of the Randwick Park area "that feel for us".
"The family is trying to cope with two deaths now and they are grieving and speechless.
"We are now trying to come to terms with the sad situation and Navtej's eldest daughter has just seen her dad in this state for the first time," said the family.
"We will follow Sikh rituals at the Takanini Sikh Temple this coming Sunday for Navtej's Peace in Heaven," said the family.
Yesterday the three men who appeared in court, were remanded in custody to appear again in August.
Anitelea Chan Kee, 20, and Tino Faamele Felise, 17, were charged with Mr Singh's murder, aggravated robbery and armed robbery.
Kee's brother, Mefiposeta Chan Kee, 24, was charged with being an accessory for disposing of packaging around alcohol taken during the fatal raid and the .22 calibre rifle used to shoot Mr Singh.
Yesterday police found parts of the rifle in Mangroves at the Tamaki estuary.
- NZPA, NZHERALD STAFF
