Witness says he, other accused stopped near DPP Kevin's condo

KUALA LUMPUR: An accused in the murder trial of Datuk Anthony Kevin Morais told the High Court yesterday that he and five other accused stopped at the location of the deputy public prosecutor (DPP)'s condominium on Sept 3, 2015, a day before the latter was reported missing.

Sixth accused S.Nimalan, 25, said on that day he was at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Triton, with R.Dinishwaran, AK Thinesh Kumar and M.Vishwanath as his passengers and heading to a hotel in Petaling Jaya from Restoran Syed Bistro also in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

They were closely following a Proton Perdana car driven by G.Gunasekaran (second accused, who was later acquitted), which his uncle, S.Ravi Chandaran, who is the seventh accused, was in.

“We had been following the car driven by Jay (Gunasekaran) for about 10 to 15 minutes and then I pulled over near a condominium,” he said in the examination inchief by counsel V. Rajehgopal on the eighth day of the defence trial.

The fifth defence witness also confirmed that the condominium was the same Menara Duta condominium at Jalan Dutamas Raya here, which was visited yesterday by the prosecution and defence team involved in the trial.

On why he had stopped at the location, Nimalan said he was supposed to follow behind Gunasekaran, so when the latter pulled over, he also did the same.

He said they stayed for a few minutes but no one from the two vehicles alighted. Subsequently, the five of them drove to a hotel in Sunway, Petaling Jaya, and stayed the night there.

Dinishwaran, 26, Thinesh Kumar, 25, Vishwanath; 28, Nimalan and Ravi Chandaran, 47, were represented by V.Rajehgopal while Dr Kunaseegaran, 55, by Datuk N.Sivananthan.

They stand accused of killing Kevin Morais, 55, along Jalan Dutamas 1, Sentul to No.1 Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya, between 7 am and 8 pm on Sept 3, 2015. If found guilty, they face the mandatory death sentence under 302 of the Penal Code read with Section 34 of the same Code.

The trial continues today before judge Datuk Azman Abdullah. DPP Saiful Edris Zainuddin is leading the prosecution team.

Kevin Morais' body was found inside a drum filled with concrete at Persiaran Subang Mewah, Subang Jaya near here on Sept 16, 2015. He was reported missing on Sept 4, 2015. - Bernama