Witness: Isoof Confessed to Affair With Kajal
Awitness told the Court that murder accused, Muhammed Raheesh Isoof, confessed to him about having an affair with Nileshni Kajal.
This came to light during the Nausori Highlands murder trial yesterday while a Police officer took the stand to give evidence. The trial is presided by High Court Judge Justice Thushara Rajasinghe.
The Charges:
Muhammed Raheesh Isoof (herein referred to as Kamal) is alleged to have murdered Nirmal Kumar, 63, his wife Usha Devi, 54, their daughter Nileshni Kajal, 34, and Ms Kajal’s daughters Sanah Singh, 11, Samarah Singh, 8 at Nausori Highlands in August 2019.
He is also charged with one count of attempted murder of Samaira Kumar who was found abandoned near the bodies of five deceased persons at Nausori Highlands.
Representations:
The State prosecutors are Semi Babitu, Taitusi Tuenuku, and Prenika Lata from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The defence counsel is Iqbal Khan from Iqbal Khan and Associates.
Trial Day 8 (Continuation):
Prosecution Witness 30: Inspector Meli Doughty
Inspector Doughty told the court that on August 26, 2019, he was part of the investigations team for this case. He said when was the crime officer on the day and was at Namaka Police Station when his colleague received a phone call informing of the bodies found at the Nausori Highlands.
He said he and his colleague were asked to locate a person by the name of Nirmal so they drove up to the house of Nirmal, who was known to the Police for criminal offences, however, it was a different person.
He said they received the photo of Nirmal and his colleague then said he knew the person so they went straight to Legalega.
Inspector Doughty said when they drove up to the house, the house was locked and two ladies were sitting outside.
He said around midday, the accused, his wife, and tenant went to them and informed them that they heard in the news of the bodies, which were found at the Nausori Highlands.
He also said that the accused had informed him that the vehicle was parked at the NewWorld Supermarket car park in Votualevu and that he took them to the Nausori Highlands. He also stated that the crime officer of Nadi Police Station had sent him a photo of the child who was found with the bodies.
He added that on September 5, 2019, he uplifted the CCTV footage from Shop N Save Supermarket in Namaka, which showed the accused shopping for groceries and leaving the supermarket at 12.52pm.
Cross-Examination:
Mr Khan questioned the witness whether the accused voluntarily told him that he took the deceased family to Nausori Highlands. Inspector Doughty said yes. Mr Khan questioned the witness whether the accused voluntarily told him that the deceased’s vehicle was parked outside Newworld Supermarket car park.
Inspector Doughty said yes.
Prosecution Witness 31: Nanendra Michael, 61.
Mr Michael is a caretaker of a property called A-One Apartments in Legalega, Nadi, from which CCTV footage was recovered showing the deceased and accused’s vehicles going in and out of Legalega on August 25, 2019.
He said the Police officers had approached him on September 2, 2019, to obtain some CCTV footage which he allowed and assisted them with.
Cross-Examination:
Mr Khan questioned the witness of who had installed the CCTV footage, to which Mr Michael replied that the owner of the property had done so by hiring professional technicians.
Prosecution Witness 32: Agnesh Singh, 36.
Mr Singh, who is the store manager for NewWorld Supermarket in Votualevu, told the court that there were 43 cameras around and inside of the supermarket in August 2019.
He said the Police officers had approached him seeking assistance to obtain footage of a car parked in the supermarket’s car park.
He also stated that the time fluctuated on the camera recording whenever there was a power surge or blackout. He said the time stamp on the CCTV at the supermarket would either jump forward or move back by a few minutes.
Cross-Examination:
Mr Khan questioned the witness of who had installed the CCTV cameras to which Mr Singh said the installation was done by a company based in Suva.
He then questioned the witness whether he had any IT knowledge or was aware of any specifications of CCTV. Mr Singh said no.
Mr Khan asked the witness whether he could verify the time stamp on the footage to be accurate, which showed the deceased’s vehicle and the accused’s rented vehicle at the car park.
Mr Singh said he could not.
Prosecution Witness 33: Janendra Prasad, 37.
Mr Prasad is a self-employed man who had installed the CCTV footage at Satya’s Shopping Centre in Mulomulo, Nadi. He said he had installed CCTV cameras at Satya’s Shopping Center a few years back with a total of 16 cameras.
He said the recording device did not have a set of Fiji’s time zone so he had set it to Auckland’s time zone, which was the nearest and closest time zone to Fiji.
Cross-Examination:
Mr Khan pointed out to the witness that his explanation in court about the Wellington time Zone being able to be changed manually to the Fiji time zone on the CCTV during installation was not recorded in the Police statement.
He questioned the witness of why was it not recorded to which the witness remained silent.
Mr Khan then asked the witness whether he knew if the timestamps on the two footage that was present in court by the prosecutors showing the accused’s vehicle driving to Nausori Highlands at 9.16am and returned at midday were Fiji time zone or the Wellington time zone.
He told the court that he was not sure and could not confirm the same.
Prosecution Witness Narayan Singh Cross-Examination: Cross-Examination:
35: Rup
Mr Singh is the manager of Shop N Save Supermarket in Namaka.
He said that the supermarket had 70 CCTV cameras installed located inside and outside.
He said the Police officers had approached him seeking his assistance to obtain CCTV footage of August 25, 2019. The footage allegedly showed Isoof driving to the back of the supermarket, into the car park and going inside the supermarket to buy groceries.
He checked out his items and left the supermarket at 12.52pm.
Mr Khan questioned the witness whether he installed the cameras to which Mr Singh said the installation was done by the IT officers from the Suva Headquarters.
TRIAL DAY 9: Prosecution Witness 36: Superintendent of Police (SP) Mitieli Divuana
SP Divuana told the court that in August 2019, he was based at the Western Division Police Headquarters holding the position of Deputy Divisional Police Commander.
He said on August 26, 2019, he received a call from the Officer in Charge from Nadi Police Station that there were bodies found at Nausori Highlands.
He said he was also informed of a small child who was found alive with the bodies.
He said upon receiving the information, he proceeded to the crime scene with his team in the Police vehicle at 10.48am.
Upon reaching the crime scene, SP Divuana said he noticed there was a crowd gathering at the area and a white twin cab parked along the side of the main road.
He said he and his team went to see the baby and the nurse and cordoned off the area.
Mr Khan questioned the witness whether Inspector Kasi was the officer from Nadi who had called, to which SP Divuana said yes.
He then asked the witness, why did Inspector Kase not go to the crime scene as he was based in Nadi. SP Divuana said he did not know what happened or why Inspector Kase arrived late at the crime scene.
Mr Khan then questioned if the witness had made any recordings in his diary on what he witnessed at the crime scene. SP Divuana said no, but it was fresh in his mind and likewise, he stated it in his Police statement. Mr Khan asked the witness if he had seen the bodies found at the crime scene to which SP Divuana said no.
Re-Examination:
The prosecutor questioned the witness as to why he did not go to see the bodies to which SP Divuana said it was because the crowd was trying to get to the crime scene.
Prosecution Witness 37: Detective Corporal Semi Vuniwai
Detective Corporal Vuniwai told the court Isoof had allegedly informed him that while taking the family up to Nausori Highlands on August 25, 2019, victim Nileshni Kajal was mixing a chemical in a bottle, inside his rental car. He testified that on August 26, 2019, when he and his team went to check the house of Nirmal in Legalega, Nadi, he found Nirmal’s house locked so they did a house-to-house enquiry.
He said Isoof informed went and informed his colleague that Nirmal and his family had left on Sunday.
He added that during the houseto-house enquiry, he went to Isoof ’s house and stood by the gate as Isoof came to the gate.
He added that Isoof told him that he wanted to confess something to him and he told him to go ahead.
Detective Corporal Vuniwai said Isoof told him that he was having an affair with Kajal and that he took them to the Nausori Highlands the day before.
He said Isoof also informed him that Nirmal’s vehicle was parked at NewWorld Supermarket car park in Votualevu.
He further said they left for the supermarket to locate the vehicle.
While on their way, Detective Corporal Vuniwai testified that Isoof called him to rely on a few more messages.
He said the other thing the accused told him was that Nirmal’s mobile phone was inside Isoof ’s rented car that he took them to Nausori Highlands in.
Detective Corporal Vuniwai told the court that Isoof informed him that on their way to Nausori Highlands, Kajal was in the front passenger seat of the rental car mixing a chemical.
He said the accused informed him that Kajal had also offered him a cup of the chemical she was mixing, however, he refused it.
The prosecution then asked if at that time the accused had stated this, and was the Police aware of how the family had passed away. Detective Corporal Vuniwai said no. The trial yesterday continued till 7pm. For the afternoon bits of yesterday’s trial, you can read more in