The High Court in Shah Alam today was told that police used tracker dogs to search for bodies at a plantation in Banting, believed to be where cosmetics millionaire Sosilawati Lawiya and three others were brutally murdered.  

Supt Denis Leong Sung Kuai of the Selangor Police Serious Crimes Division said the dogs were brought in after his team failed to discover any corpse at the plantation on Sept 9, 2010.

“We used the cadaver dogs, trained to sniff out corpses, to see if there were bodies buried at the site,” Leong, the 27th prosecution witness, said.

“Whenever the dog handler observed a dog had sniffed out something, we would dig at the spot. But we did not find any human remains at the time,” he said during cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor Ishak Mohd Yusoff on the ninth day of the proceedings.    

NONE Former lawyer N Pathmanabhan and plantation workers T Thilaiyagan, R Matan and R Khatavarayan are charged with the murder of Sosilawati, 47 ( right ), bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, and Sosilawati’s driver, Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44, in Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting, between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Aug 30, 2010.

All the accused are charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries a mandatory death sentence.

Cross examined by defence counsel, Leong said that a backhoe was used to dig at several spots on Sept 10 and 11, 2010 but no human remains were found.

He also said that he told the last three accused when they were arrested on Sept 9 that they were being detained to facilitate investigation of a murder in Gombak.

Leong had testified yesterday that police were investigating a murder in Gombak at the time of Sosilawati’s disappearance.

    

The next witness was crime scene chief investigator ASP Zainol Hisham Abu of the police forensics lab, whom judge Akhtar Tahir thought looked nervous when answering DPP Idham Ghani.    

The judge, with a laugh, said: “Why are you shivering? Are you afraid of the DPP?  It’s okay, calm down.”

The ASP replied: “Yes”.  

Hearing continues on July 25.

- Bernama