On the first day of his defence, murder accused chief inspector Azilah Hadri related on how he got to know of Abdul Razak Baginda and the alleged threats which the political analyst had faced from a Chinese man and Altantuya Shaariibuu whom he continuously refer in his testimony as a Chinese woman.

He also related on how he had roped in second accused Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar to help him contain the threats made against the political analysts.

He also spoke about the day they went to Hotel Malaya to find Altantuya and also the night of the incident in front of Abdul Razak's house on Oct 19, 2006.

The case began at about 9.47am with Azilah answering questions from his counsel Hazman Ahmad.

Prominent lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who once represented Abdul Razak during the remand proceedings made a short appearance in the court for 15 minutes.

Azilah, 32, who is taking the witness stand for the first time, told Shah Alam High Court that the Deputy Prime Minister's aide-de-camp Musa Safri had given Abdul Razak's handphone number to him to help resolve the political analyst's problem.

"It was on Oct 17, 2006, while in Pekan, Pahang while accompanying the Deputy Prime Minister, Musa approached me and asked me whether I knew anyone from the Brickfields district police station.

"I told him I knew Deputy Superintendent Idris Abdul Karim who is the head of criminal investigations of the Brickfields station, whom I know since my days as an investigating officer in Sepang police.

"Musa told me that his friend Abdul Razak needed help as he had been threatened by someone. Musa gave me Abdul Razak's cell number for me to contact," said the Special Action Squad officer.

Abdul Razak gave room number

The murder accused said the next day while in Kuala Lumpur, he tried calling Abdul Razak but only got a wrong number. He added that he inquired from Musa again and got another number for Abdul Razak.

He said he contacted Abdul Razak again and introduced himself.

The political analyst then had asked Azilah to meet him at his office at Bangunan Getah Asli where he (Abdul Razak) gave the full address to the policeman via a SMS.

Azilah said he went to Abdul Razak's office that same day (Oct 18) where he met the political analyst in the study at the office.

"After introducing as Musa's friend, Abdul Razak related his problems to me of being threatened by an unknown Chinese man and a Chinese woman (Altantuya)

"He did not give any background of the people who threatened him or what was the reason behind it but he allowed me to listen to a voice mail on his cell phone where a man with a Chinese accent said ' Saya mahu kasi pecah you punya muka '(I want to break your face)," the policeman said.

Then, Azilah said Abdul Razak allowed him to listen to another voice mail and this time of a woman talking in English whom had threatened him.

"After hearing his problem, I advised Abdul Razak to lodge a police report. However, the political analyst did not want to do so and asked me to patrol in front of his house in Bukit Damansara to prevent those two from causing trouble in front of his residence.

"Abdul Razak also gave me an address of a room in Hotel Malaya where Altantuya had stayed and wanted me to advice the woman to stop harassing him. He also gave me Altantuya's handphone number (017-3992411) whom he referred to as Aminah," said Azilah.

On returning to his office in Bukit Aman, Azilah said he was briefed that he was to lead a team to Hong Kong soon.

Also at the police headquarters, he said he met Sirul and had asked him if he was willing to assist Abdul Razak. Later both of them met up at the Central Market and decided to go to Hotel Malaya.

"When arriving at the room, I did not dare knock on the door for fear of disturbing the privacy of the occupants. I also feared that it maybe the wrong room as Abdul Razak told me differently to what he wrote on a note pad."

Phone call while breaking fast

The next day (Oct 19), Azilah said while he was briefing his officers over the trip to Hong Kong, he got to know the trip was cancelled and he was asked to escort Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak the next day (Oct 20).

"I went out to break fast with Lance Corporal Rohaniza at a Thai restaurant in Petaling Jaya. While there, I received a phone call from Abdul Razak informing me that the Chinese woman (Altantuya) was causing disturbances outside his home and required my help.

"He asked me to go to his house where a private investigator P Balasubramaniam was waiting there with Altantuya," he said.

The Shah Alam High Court had on Oct 31 last year acquitted Abdul Razak of abetting the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Abdul Razak, a close associate of Najib, had faced the death penalty if he has been found guilty of abetting in the murder of his former lover Altantuya, whose body was blown up with explosives in a jungle clearing.

The court ordered Azilah, 32 and Sirul Azhar Umar, 37, - from the elite Special Action Force (UTK) which guards the prime minister and deputy prime minister - to enter their defence to the charge of murder.

Both have elected to testify under oath. Azilah and Sirul are jointly charged with murdering Altantuya, 28, at a location between Lot 12843 and Lot 16735 in Mukim Bukit Raja, Selangor between 10am on Oct 19, 2006 and 1am the following day.

Lawyer Karpal Singh, acting on behalf of Altantuya Shaariibuu's family, has filed an application at the Shah Alam High Court to compel the prosecution to appeal against Abdul Razak's acquittal.