Teoh Beng Hock was held for nearly two hours to help search for four missing invoices which had letterheads but minus the signatures, the coroner's court inquiring into his death heard today.

NONE The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission intelligence officer from Putrajaya, Arman Alies, told the hearing that he and another officer made Teoh go through a bundle of files to locate the missing documents from 10.30pm to after midnight.

He said that the orders had came from Selangor MACC investigation unit head Hairul Ilham Hamzah.

Counsel Gobind Singh Deo, who is holding a watching brief for Teoh's family, questioned the need for two hours searching for the files, describing the episode as "ridiculous".

Gobind : I do not understand your methods of investigation. Logically, if there are four dubious documents, you should have just shown him right at the start. Don't give him a stack of documents and ask him to search. This is ridiculous.

Arman : It is important for us to identify and confirm whether the documents are there.

Gobind : You were just taking a chance to find something. You are just looking around to find something and you do not actually know what you are looking for?

Arman : In the beginning, yes.

Gobind : When you saw the four documents, you started to break him down to get answers from him. In the two hours, you broke him down psychologically and pressed him for answers.

Arman disagreed, saying that he merely had a light-hearted chat with Teoh on his personal life.

Earlier, Arman told the court that intelligence officers do not record statements from witnesses or set up traps.

"We only assist in operations when instructed by our superiors," he said in response to Gobind's question on the differences between intelligence and investigating officers.

Wasted time and effort

Arman, the 15th witness to testify, revealed that four to five officers from Putrajaya were despatched by their superiors to the Shah Alam office to probe the alleged misuse of funds.

teoh beng hock inquest 011009 gobind singh Gobind ( right ): You did not know what you were looking for, you were just trying your luck and you were not getting anything.

Arman : That was before we discovered the laptop.

However, the two-hour search was in vain as Teoh could not locate the invoices, Arman said.

He told the court that he had reported back to Hairul Ilham before overhearing his superior telling investigating officer Mohd Nadzri Ibrahim to take down Teoh's statement.

Teoh, 30, 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 into the alleged abuse of Selangor government funds.

Today marks the 26th day of the inquest, which will resume on Oct 21 before coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas.

Hearing continues next Wednesday.