Kedah police chief Adzli Abu Shah said the weapon was found in a padi field, about 200m from the location of the incident.

“We found the Rambo knife with the suspect’s help,” Sinar Harian reported him as saying at the state police headquarters today.

On Monday, Adzli said police were informed about a fight in front of a restaurant at 9.24pm the night before, after which members of the public found the 35-year-old woman in her car, bleeding from a deep stab wound to the neck.

The 32-year-old suspect fled the scene but was arrested at 1.50am at a mosque in Taman Uda, about 6km away.

The victim is a single mother while the suspect is a divorcee. Both worked in the real estate sector and were believed to have known each other for more than a year.

Adzli said the stabbing was believed to have been motivated by jealousy and unrequited love, although police are still working to determine the main motive.

The suspect was remanded for seven days from Monday to assist in investigations under Section 326 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing grievous hurt using dangerous weapons or means.

Adzli said today that the victim had undergone surgery and is in stable condition.

“She was traumatised by the injury. She is weak, but stable,” he said.