Deputy public prosecutor Tun Majid Tun Hamzah today dropped a bombshell in the Shah Alam High Court that he will apply to impeach another witness at the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial.

Special Action Unit (UTK) DSP Mohd Yusri Hasan Basri, 33, gave what appeared to be inconsistent answers when questioned by both second accused Sirul Azhar Umar's lawyer, Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, and chief prosecutor Tun Majid.

Yusri, who is the third witness in the trial-within-a-trial, changed his answers several times prompting judge Mohd Zaki Md Yasin to interrupt for clarification on a number of occasions.

The trial-within-a-trial which began yesterday aims to determine whether to exclude statements allegedly made by Sirul, 36, to his interrogating officer ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin.

According to Zulkarnain, Sirul had kept the victim's jewellery in his leather jacket and had nodded and pointed at the jewellery when they were at Sirul's Kota Damansara house.

Yusri was the most senior of the three UTK officers sent Sirul's house to retrieve items belonging to the elite police force which Sirul was a member. His other two colleagues were Rosli Ibrahim, 36, and an officer called Zafri.

Yusri first changed his answer during examination-in-chief by defence lawyer Zaidi when he said Zulkarnain had given him permission to retrieve UTK items from Sirul's flat in Nov 7 last year.

Zaidi: What was Zul's response to your request in retrieving UTK items from Sirul's house?

Yusri: He permitted it and said (we could go in) after he finished his task.

Zaidi: Could you repeat your answer?

Yusri: He permitted us to go into Sirul's house to retrieve the UTK equipment.

Zaidi: I thought I heard you said "after Zul finishes his task".

Tun Majid: He did say it. It's in the prosecution notes.

Zaki: Did you say "after Zul finishes his task"?

Yusri: No.

Zaidi: Is that your answer?

Yusri: Yes.

The defence is trying to argue that Sirul was outside when his room was search and the door was close with the officers inside, while the prosecution is contending that the Sirul had led the officers to his room and pointed to the jewellery in his jacket.

Two officers, different answers

In another instance, Yusri said he wasn't sure where Sirul was when they together entered the house located on the third floor, but later said Sirul was seated on a chair at the dining table.

Despite being the highest ranked officer during the search, Yusri could not remember most of the events and admitted he had spoken to his colleague, Rosli, about the hearing when the trial took a break for 20 minutes in the afternoon.

Rosli - who testified earlier today - was one of the three UTK officers who went to Sirul's house under deputy UTK chief Mastor Mohd Ariff's orders.

The inconsistencies between Rosli's and Yusri's testimonies were apparent during questioning by both the defence and prosecution team.

Rosli He found Sirul's UTK equipment in a bag and a box, and took the items downstairs to the car alone. He then went back upstairs to tell chief inspector Koh Fei Cheow that he had finished his task.

Yusri - Zafri had went with Rosli and both of them did not go back upstairs. Yusri said he waited for Zulkarnain to tell him that his equipment retrieval task was done.

(However, Sirul yesterday testified that he saw all three UTK officer left his room with a bag each.)

Rosli - He saw Koh ordered Sirul to enter his bedroom.

Yusri - Sirul never entered his bedroom and that Sirul was seated near the dining table near the hall at all times.

Rosli - Sirul was handcuffed to corporal Chiam Swee Guan's left hand.

Yusri - Both of Sirul's hands were handcuffed at the back.

The trial-within-a-trial will resume with the prosecution's application to impeach the witness tomorrow.

Second impeachment

This is the second time that the prosecution has applied to the court to impeach the witness. On July 2, the prosecution has sought to impeach Rohaniza Roslan, 29, who is ex-girlfriend one of the accused, for giving answers which contradicted her original statement to the police.

Rohaniza's impeachment will be decided by the court only after the prosecution has wrapped up its case in questioning of all its witnesses.

Two police officers, chief inspector Azilah Hadri, 31, and Sirul are charged with the murder which allegedly took place between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year.

Altantuya's body was said to be blown up in a jungle clearing in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, 47, is charged with abetting the murder by giving the orders out to them at between 9.54am on Oct 18 and 9.45pm on Oct 19 last year in Kuala Lumpur.

All three accused face the death penalty if convicted.