Police chief Asst Comm Othman Nanyan said a resident of the housing area alerted the authorities of the incident at the back lane of Jalan Cendana 3 at about 8.30pm Friday.
“We believe that the victim died after he was attacked with machetes.
“A witness told us that three men had chased the victim and hacked him with machetes.
“We recovered two of the weapons from a drain and another some 10m away from the victim.
“A Hyundai Elantra, believed to be the victim’s car, was parked some 100m away,” he said.
ACP Othman said the body, believed to be African, had no identification.
The five suspects, ages 20 to 28, were picked between 11pm yesterday and 12.30am today.
ACP Othman said the suspects had valid student permits.