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SHAH ALAM: A policeman who was convicted of murdering Altantuya Shaariibuu had pointed out to investigators the place in Puncak Alam where his body was attacked with explosives, the High Court heard today.
Police officer Koh Fei Cheow, who is the 15th witness, said that Azilah Hadri had led the police to the crime scene after he volunteered the information during questioning on November 6, 2006 at the police headquarters. from Kuala Lumpur.
Testifying in a civil lawsuit brought by members of Altantuya’s family, Koh, who was then in the Serious Crimes Unit, said that he and three base police officers went with Azilah to Puncak Alam.
“We took him to the scene to determine the exact location of the crime scene described by him,” Koh said when questioned by attorney Harshaan Zamani.
Koh said he and his team had to stop several times on the way to the scene because Azilah wasn’t sure of the exact location. He said they finally arrived at the scene around 6:50 pm.
They then stopped in an open space and Azilah was allowed to observe the area before taking them to the crime scene.
“This is the place where the Mongolian woman was attacked,” Koh quoted Azilah as saying in her testimony before High Court Judge Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.
Koh said he later inspected the site and discovered bone fragments, believed to be from a human.
“I also saw burned and dead trees.”
He said Azilah then led them to another open space about 30 feet from where Altantuya’s body was blown up.
Koh said Azilah told him: “This is the place where the Mongolian woman was shot.”
Yesterday, the court was informed that another policeman, Sirul Azhar Umar, who was also found guilty of the Altantuya murder, had admitted to a policeman that he shot him and pointed out the place where his body was blown up.
Another police officer, Zulkarnain Samsudin, said that Sirul revealed the aforementioned location when he was escorted to the murder site in Puncak Alam.
Altantuya’s father, Setev, his wife, Altantsetseg Sanjaa, and Altantuya’s son, Mungunshagai Bayarjargal, have named political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, the government, as well as Sirul and Azilah as defendants in the lawsuit.
The family, which alleges conspiracy in Altantuya’s murder, is seeking RM100 million in damages, including dependency claims.
Altantuya, 28, an interpreter, was killed between 10 p.m. on October 19, 2006 and 11 a.m. the next day in the jungles of Puncak Alam. He was shot in the head before his body was blown up with explosives.
Razak, who was an aide to then-Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, was charged with complicity with Azilah and Sirul, but was later acquitted without his defense being called.
Sirul and Azilah, who were part of the Tindakan Khas Unit (UTK) of the police, were convicted in 2009 by the High Court for the murder of Altantuya.
They succeeded in overturning their conviction in the Court of Appeal in 2013, but the Federal Court in 2015 reinstated their sentence and sentenced them to death. Sirul fled to Australia before the final verdict.
Neither Sirul, who is being held in an Australian detention center, nor Azilah, who is on death row in Kajang Prison, have contested the claim.
The hearing was postponed until January 27.
