One of the the mystery DNA samples detected on Teoh Beng Hock's clothes was identified by forensics expert Dr Seah Lay Hong as belonging to a deceased male by the name of Gopala Muniam.

Gopala was a road accident victim whose post-mortem was conducted on the same day as that of the political aide's body was at the Klang Hospital.

Seah, who was recalled to testify at the inquest into the death of Teoh at the Coroner's Court today, said the transfer of Gopala's DNA to Teoh's clothes could have occurred as the two post-mortems were conducted on the same autopsy table.

NONE Gopala had died from head injuries from a motorcycle accident and his DNA had a 99.9 percent match with the one found on Teoh's blazer and belt.

Mystery, however, still surrounds the owner of the second DNA sample found on a torn-off section of Teoh’s belt.

Seah told the court that she had been requested to conduct more tests on the DNA samples found on Teoh's clothes to see whether they matched the DNA of either Gopala's or that of another male whose post-mortem was done on that same day, July 17.

He was identified as L Jeganathan, who also died as a result of severe head injuries in a motor accident.

Seah said tests showed that Jeganathan's DNA did not match the DNA found on the torn-off part of Teoh’s belt.

According to Seah, the DNA contamination of Teoh's clothes could have happened because the autopsy table was not properly sterilised.

The post-mortem on Teoh's body was done by pathologist Dr Khairul Azman Ibrahim. The same table was earlier that day used by Dr K Saravanan, a medical doctor, to conduct the post-mortems on Gopala and Jeganathan.

Seah's two previous investigations had failed to identify the two people whose DNA appeared on both the items.

In her investigations, Seah had analysed the DNA profiles of 157 individuals for comparison comprising 14 officials from the Forensic Pathology Department from the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Klang, the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre and from the Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Also tested were 49 police officers, 81 officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), two cleaners, eight maintenance and security personnel and three individual witnesses.

Autopsy table not cleaned?

Teoh, 30, a political aide to Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam on July 16 after giving a statement as a witness in the investigation on the alleged abuse of Selangor government funds.

Saravanan, who was also called to testify today, said that on July 17, he conducted an autopsy on Gopala's body at 8.30am and then one on Jeganathan's body at 10am and that both of them were accident victims.

teoh beng hock inquest 011009 gobind singh He said the autopsy on Teoh's body was conducted at noon and he was present to take pictures of the post-mortem.

Questioned by lawyer Gobind Singh Deo ( right ), who is holding a watching brief for Teoh's family, on the procedures for cleaning an autopsy table, Saravanan said the table would be cleaned with only water.

However, sterilisers would be used if the bodies were those of patients who had died of diseases like HIV or tuberculosis, he said.

He agreed with a suggestion by coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas that the DNA from bodies could be left on the autopsy table if it was not sterilised after use.

He also said there was a possibility the unidentified DNA sample on the torn-off section of Teoh's belt could belong to a body which had its post-mortem done much earlier on the same autopsy table in question.

Teoh's state of mind prior to death

Meanwhile, Azmil has given permission for psychiatrists to interview Teoh's family members and friends about Teoh's background in order to determine his state of mind prior to his death.

azlan Among those who will be interviewed include Teoh’s former boss Ean Yong.

As to the circumstances that might have affected the deceased’s state of mind during his interrogation, the psychiatrists are only allowed to establish their opinions based on statements by MACC witness who have already testified.

The psychiatrists are not allowed to conduct any private interviews with MACC officers.

The interviews will be handled by Dr Badi'ah Yahya from Hospital Permai, Johor Bahru and Dr Noor Hayati Ali from the Health Department.

DPP Mohd Abazafree Mohd Abbas said the interviews will take at about a week to be completed.

Following a request from Gobind, the coroner has also agreed to call in Selangor MACC deputy director Hishamuddin Hashim, investigation chief Hairul Ilham Hamzah and another officer Arman Alies to testify.

The coroner then postponed the case to Oct 14.