Workshop visit
THREE SITES: Judge, prosecution, lawyers, cops and accused go to place where Morais’s body was kept, nearby canal
THE workshop where the body of deputy public prosecutor Datuk Anthony Kevin Morais was allegedly kept became the centre of attention yesterday when the prosecution team visited the site.
Scores of people from nearby shophouses, residences and workshops tried to get a glimpse of the prosecutors, police and the seven accused, who visited the rundown workshop at PJS5 near Sunway Mentari in Petaling Jaya.
Led by deputy public prosecutor Saiful Edris Zainuddin, the workshop was where forensic experts found Morais’s DNA.
It was also alleged that the chassis number of Morais’s car was erased with a grinder at the workshop.
The workshop was the third place visited by the team, who had earlier visited the canal in USJ 1 in Subang Jaya, where the drum containing Morais’s body was dumped, and the other was a nearby workshop, where one of the accused, G. Gunasekaran, 43, had intended to open his eatery behind the workshop.
For the first site visit at the canal, three interpreters and High Court judge Datuk Azman Abdullah, who is presiding in the murder trial, were present.
They arrived at the site at 10.10am with police escort and left a few minutes later, leaving others to continue with the other two site visits.
Present were lawyers Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent, representing pathologist Colonel Dr R. Kunaseegaran, 52, and Ramesh Sivakumar, who acted for Gunasekaran.
Though the accused were present at all three sites, they were not allowed to disembark from the Black Maria, disappointing some onlookers.
Six men — Gunasekaran; R. Dinishwaran, 23; A. Thinesh Kumar, 22; M. Vishwanath, 25; S. Nimalan, 22; and S. Ravichandaran, 34 — were jointly charged with murdering Morais, 55, between 7am and 8pm on Sept 4 last year, while Morais was on his way from Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul to No. 1 Jalan USJ1/6D, Subang Jaya. They face the mandatory death sentence if convicted.
Dr Kunaseegaran was charged with abetting the murder of Morais under Section 109 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 302 of the same act.
The men are represented by counsel Datuk N. Sivananthan, M. Manoharan, V. Rajehgopal, and P. Subramaniam, while Datuk Simon Sabapathy is holding a watching brief for Datuk Richard Morais.
Speaking after the site visit, Saiful said: “Since I took over the case halfway through, I wanted to see the areas where his body was dumped and also where Kevin’s body was first taken.”
Hearing continues on Nov 28.