IPOH: The investigating officer who opened the investigation papers into the death of Muhammad Zaharif Affendi Muhd Zamrie told the High Court here today that she had deleted two video recordings showing the victim being hit by a vehicle.
Inspector Jong Pit Chao, 37, who is also the 29th prosecution witness, said the videos were received via WhatsApp on Dec 17 last year, two days after the collision between the white Perodua Ativa driven by the accused and the black Yamaha 135LC motorcycle ridden by Zaharif.
She said the two dashcam videos were sent by a woman, the owner of a Mitsubishi Triton, who had parked her vehicle by the road near the scene of the collision.
The witness said she deleted the videos because the case had been handed over to a new investigating officer, Assistant Superintendent Chua Sze Chuan, from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Ipoh district police headquarters.
"When I received the call from the woman, I had already received instructions to transfer the case to Chua," she said.
"I informed the woman that I was no longer the investigating officer for the case and told her to contact Chua," she said during cross-examination by defence counsel Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid.
She said this in front of Judge Datuk Bhupindar Singh Gucharan Singh Preet on the 16th day of the trial.
According to the charge, Deputy Superintendent Mohd Nazri Abdul Razak, 45, is accused of murdering Zaharif, 17, in Jalan Taman Jati 1, near SMK Jati, between 11.45am and 12.32pm on Dec 15, 2023.
The senior police officer was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for the death penalty or 30 to 40 years jail and 12 strokes of the cane if convicted.
Earlier, Mior Faridalathrash asked whether the traffic investigating officer could show the video recordings to the court, but Jong said the recordings were no longer in her possession.
Mior: "The woman sent it via WhatsApp. My question is, do you still have it in your possession?"
Jong: "No, I do not."
Mior: "My question is, did you delete the recordings you received from the woman?"
Jong: "I will explain" (The witness was unable to finish her response).
Mior: "So, I say to you that you didn't actually receive it from the woman. If you did, you wouldn't have deleted the video."
Jong:"I received it."
Mior: "Why didn't you keep it?"
Jong: "I couldn't spread the evidence."
Mior: "Do you know this is evidence for the court?"
Jong: "I know, but I am not the investigating officer. I passed it on to Chua, who handled the investigation at the time."
Meanwhile, during the examination, Deputy Public Prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz asked why the investigation was being conducted under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 while considering the possibility of elements under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
In response, Jong described the collision involving Muhammad Zaharif as an extraordinary incident.
"By extraordinary, I mean from my experience as a traffic investigating officer, the vehicles involved in this incident, including the car and motorcycle, were not at the scene.
"Based on oral testimonies from public witnesses at the location, the victim's motorcycle was seen being chased by a Perodua Ativa car and was hit from behind.
"This means it was an extraordinary incident, where there was a chase between the Perodua Ativa car and the motorcycle ridden by the victim," he said.
In addition to Afzainizam, the prosecution team also includes Nasrul Hadi Abdul Ghani, V. Suloshani, and Low Qin Hui, while the accused is represented by lawyers M.Athimulan, Mior Faridalathrash, and Aiman Hakim Kamaruzzaman.
The trial resumes in the afternoon.