The private investigator hired by Abdul Razak Baginda said a Mongolian national named Aminah visited the political analyst at his office on Oct 9 last year.

V Bala Subramaniam, 47, said this in the Shah Alam High Court as the trial of three people accused in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu began today before judge Mohd Zaki Md Yasin.

Bala said three Mongolians had attempted to see Razak, 47, at his Malaysian Strategic Research Centre (MSRC) office on the 10th floor of Bangunan Getah Asli in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

"I received a call from Razak that (they) were at his office and he told me go over as soon as possible. I was in my house at that time, so I sent my assistant (K Suras Kumar)," he said.

"When I got there, the secretary said the three had left so the two of us followed them. Suras went to speak to them outside the lobby and asked for a lighter. I stayed near the stairs to observe them."

He said he knew that one of them was the person about whom Razak had spoken to him.

"When I saw them, I was sure that all three were Mongolian but I wasn't sure which one was the one threatening Razak," he explained.

Bala, formerly a Special Branch officer, said he rang the police and two officers - Zul Husnee Isa and V Pallaniandy - showed up and that he asked the latter for information on the trio.

"Pallaniandy told me that one of them was named Aminah and that she had said her husband was the executive director of this building."

(At the time, Razak was the executive director of strategic think tank, MSRC.)

Bala also noted that the three travelled in a Honda Accord driven by a man who looked Chinese.

The Mongolians lingered on the ground floor of the building after the police left, so Bala phoned Razak to tell him to leave the building by the back entrance.

"I later called Razak again to tell him that the three had left. Suras and I left after that," he said.

'Threatening phone calls'

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Tun Majid Tun Hamzah asked Bala specifically why he had been hired after the court heard that he had met Razak for over an hour at his office to discuss his task.

"Razak hired me to keep this Mongolian woman, who had been threatening him, away from him. My job was to stop her from meeting Razak. He told me she had been threatening him for money," he told the packed courtroom.

Bala said he was paid RM4,000 for his services which were to end when the Mongolian returned home. He said he has been a private investigator for nine years.

However, he said Razak had told him that he was receiving threats from a policeman who spoke with a Chinese accent.

"I told him to make a police report but he said he would consult his family lawyer first before deciding (on this)," he said.

He also said Razak told him that he had a recording of a phone conversation with the policeman.

However Bala said he could not remember the details of the threat as this was not part of the task that he was paid to do.

Razak, is charged with abetting the murder of Altantuya, 28, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year. Her body was blown up in a jungle clearing in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Two police officers, Azilah Hadri, 30, and Sirul Azhar Umar, 35, are charged with the murder. They are members of a special unit that guards top Malaysian leaders, including the prime minister and his deputy.

All three accused face the death penalty if convicted.

The high profile trial is expected to run for a month and to hear testimony from 30 to 40 prosecution witnesses.

The hearing continues tomorrow.