THE owner of a popular 24-hour restaurant in Little India died after he was set upon by a group of assailants last Thursday in a small town near Segamat - the latest victim of a violent attack in Johor.

Mr Rahim Rajah, 42, who owned the CMK restaurant opposite Mustafa Centre in Little India, died less than 48 hours after the brutal attack which left him with severe head injuries and broken ribs.

He was mere steps away from home when the unknown assailants set upon him last Thursday night in Cha'ah, a small Johor town, where Mr Rahim was said to be planning to open a branch there, The New Paper reported on Monday.

His son, Mr Kathar Sharif Rahim, 17, said he was told by his Malaysian uncle that a passer-by had found his father after the attack and called the police.

With the help of other passers-by, the man helped Mr Rahim to his house and called his friends.

Mr Kathar said his father's friends did not realise how serious his injuries were.

'My dad had internal injuries, so his friends thought he was okay when they saw him,' he told The New Paper.

'They cleaned his face and put him to bed. It was only when he vomited blood the next morning that they realised how seriously he was hurt.'

Mr Rahim's siblings, who live in Cha'ah, about an hour's drive from Johor Baru, rushed him to the nearest hospital in Batu Pahat.

His family brought him back to the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore when they found that the hospital in Johor did not have the facilities to handle his serious injuries.

Doctors found Mr Rahim had a broken skull and blood clotting, and told his family that even if they operated, he had only a slim chance of survival.

Mr Rahim died at about 4.20pm last Saturday.

He leaves behind his wife and three children.

The motive for the attack is still unknown and the Malaysian police are investigating. They are understood to have made two arrests, said The New Paper.