Seven men, including a military doctor, pleaded not guilty in the Kuala Lumpur High Court today for murdering and abetting in the murder of deputy public prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais, whose body was found in a cemented drum.

They made their plea before Judge Azman Abdullah after the charge was read to them, and the court fixed Feb 25 for mention of the case.

Six men - G Gunasekaran, 43; R Dinishwaran, 23; A Thinesh Kumar, 22; M Vishwanath, 25; S Nimalan, 22; and S Ravichandaran, 34 - pleaded not guilty to murdering Kevin, 55, between 7am and 8pm on Sept 4, 2015 while Kevin was on his way from Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul to No 1 Jalan USJ1/6D, Subang Jaya.

They face the mandatory death penalty if convicted under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

The charge against them was read out in Tamil.

Meanwhile pathologist Col Dr R Kunaseegaran, 52, pleaded not guilty to abetting with the six men in the murder of Kevin at the same place, date and time.

The charge against him was read out in Malay.

Kunaseegaran was charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 302 of the same act.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Abdul Razak Musa applied for the court to fix the mention's date in three weeks' time to enable the prosecution to transfer a case involving another accused, A Murugan from the Shah Alam High Court, to be jointly on trial with the seven accused.

Murugan was charged with abetting the six men in Kevin’s murder at Desa Mentari, Kuala Lumpur between 9.30am and 8pm last Sept 4.

Counsel M Manoharan and V Rajehgopal represented the six men, while N Sivananthan represented Kunaseegaran, and Simon Sabapathy was the watching brief for the deceased's youngest brother, Richard Dilaan Morais, who was also present today.

Kevin's remains were found in a cemented drum at Persiaran Subang Mewah, Subang Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur on Sept 16 last year.

Kevin was reported missing on Sept 4. He was last seen leaving his apartment at Menara Duta, Kuala Lumpur for Putrajaya in a Proton Perdana car bearing registration number WA6264Q.

- Bernama