The judicial inquest to identity a highly-decomposed body lying in the University Malaya Medical Centre mortuary today centred around efforts carried out by the Special Malaysian Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) to locate missing police detainee G Francis Udayappan.

Smart chief inspector Khairul Zaman Ishak told Kuala Lumpur magistrate Nazran Mohd Sham - acting as coroner - that his unit on April 16, 2004 had scoured only 800 metres of the Klang River area from the point where Francis' had allegedly jumped to escape from the Brickfields police headquarters.

Answering questions from DPP Faizah Salleh, Khairul also told the court that the search continued for about 90 minutes.

He said it was called off because of unsuitable weather conditions, the speed and depth of the river flow, and the onset of darkness which could endanger the lives of his team members.

"Based on the observed conditions, the murkiness of the water which was quite bad, the speed of the current, the depth of the water which was two meters deeper than usual, and the cloudiness of the weather, it would have been dangerous for a search and rescue mission.

"My team and I acted to check the banks of the river up to its mouth, about 800 meters from where the suspect was said to have dived in. I was also informed that an earlier rescue mission by the fire and rescue department before our arrival also did not conduct any operation due to the same factors," he added.

Khairul's statements mirrored those of Sergeant Major Razak Sulaiman, the police officer that Khairul had contacted that day for preliminary information on the subject of the search, and who had headed an earlier search team .

With or without handcuffs?

Responding to questions from Ravi Nekoo, lawyer of Francis' mother, Khairul said his team had not brought a motorboat to conduct the search as it was deemed "inappropriate", but did bring scuba-diving and "rope equipment."

Neither, however, were used because of the dangerous conditions, added the witness.

When suggesting that Francis may have submerged moments after jumping into the water on account of being handcuffed, Khairul contradicted an earlier statement by Sergeant Major Chew Choon Peng who testified that the detainee was not handcuffed.

"I was made to understand that if the suspect was handcuffed, he would have been submerged in the water after only a few seconds," said the officer.

"So Sergeant Major Razak told you that the suspect was handcuffed when he jumped into the water?" asked the lawyer, to which Khairul replied: "Yes".

Francis's mother G Sara Lily has long claimed that her son died while in police custody and his body was dumped in the Klang River. Police, however, alleged that he had jumped into the river when escaping.

A DNA test conducted by the police using Sara's blood and bone marrow sample and with a similar sample taken from the body in UMMC failed to reveal a match.

The Attorney-General's Chambers has since allowed her request for an independent DNA test to be conducted but she has faced problems in doing so.

Sara had previously identified the remains as that of her 24-year-old son based on a tattoo and tooth deformity.

The hearing continues tomorrow.