SHAH ALAM- There were signs that the bedroom of Cradle Fund chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan was deliberately put on fire in June 2018, the High Court here was told today.
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The 15th prosecution witness, Selangor Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) fire investigations officer Abdul Halim Zulkefeli said this was because based on his investigations, the fire was only ‘concentrated’ in certain areas of the room.
When asked by DPP Ashyraf Ashy’ari Kamaruzaman before Judge Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman what he meant by ‘concentrated’, Abdul Halim explained that if the fire was deliberately started, it would only be done in a planned place.
He said there were also some flammable materials including a pile of papers and tissue rolls placed near the victim and the bed which did not burn.
Ashyraf Ashy’ari: The deceased’s (Nazrin) body was not (fully) burnt, but there were certain parts (of his body) that were burnt. The same goes for the bed. So what is the cause of this, and for it (the fire) to be concentrated in a particular area
Abdul Halim: These are signs that show a fire is deliberately lit, because it is only concentrated in certain areas.
Ashyraf Ashy’ari: Does the area of concentration require an agent for an open fire to occur
Abdul Halim: In a deliberate fire incident, usually an agent or tool that can help (spark) the fire is used, such as petrol, diesel and other fuels.
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Ashyraf Ashy’ari: In this case, what was the agent used
Abdul Halim: After samples from the burned area were taken and sent to the scientific officer, the results showed that it was petrol.
Meanwhile, when asked by Selangor State Prosecutor Datuk Salim Soib @ Hamid if the fire could have been triggered by a short circuit, Abdul Halim said he had considered the fact in his investigation, but found that there were no electrical issues in the incident.
He said inspections throughout the house also found that the electrical safety level was good ,but there were two miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) that were shut off, either deliberately, or due to an electrical trip.
On March 12, Samirah Muzaffar, 44, a former senior executive at the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia, who is also the widow of Nazrin, 47, and two boys aged 17 and 14 were jointly charged along with an Indonesian citizen, Eka Wahyu Lestari who is still at large, with the murder of the Cradle Fund CEO.
They were accused of committing the offence at one of the housing units in Mutiara Homes, Pearl Damansara, between 11.30 pm on June 13, 2018 and 4 am on June 14, 2018.
The charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Act, provides for a mandatory death sentence upon conviction.- BERNAMA