SYDNEY: Australian police have arrested a Malaysian police officer convicted of killing and blowing up a Mongolian model linked with a former associate of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, media reported on Wednesday.

Two police officers, part of Najib’s personal security detail at the time of the 2006 murder of 28-year-old Altantuya Shaariibuu, were found guilty in 2009 but were acquitted in 2013.

That acquittal was overturned by Malaysia’s Federal Court this month, reviving public outrage over the model’s grisly death.

Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar was taken into custody by immigration officials in Brisbane earlier this week, The Star newspaper quoted Malaysia’s Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar as saying.

Sirul did not show up to hear the verdict, at which point the court issued an arrest warrant. He faces the death penalty in Malaysia.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Sirul had arrived in Australia in October.