by Giam Say Khoon
SHAH ALAM (Aug 7, 2009): Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, who is holding a watching brief for Teoh Beng Hock's family in the inquest on his death, said today he will apply to coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas to direct police to investigate on the theory that the political aide was pushed from Plaza Masalam.
He lamented that police investigation had been limited to the possibility that 30-year-old Teoh had either fallen or committed suicide and might have overlooked the possibility that he was murdered or pushed off the building which houses the state Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office on the 14th floor.
"The witnesses when interviewed by the police, were only asked based on the theory the police had developed. We will try to establish the theory that he (Teoh) could have been murdered or pushed off the building and apply to the coroner so that the police will also investigate based on this theory," he said.
Azmil, government lawyer Tan Hock Chuan and Gobind Singh Deo, Ram Karpal Singh and Lim Lip Eng, lawyers for Teoh's family as well as Selangor government lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Bar Council representative Cheow Wee, arrived at the complex at 9.45am and immediate visited the MACC office, in particular the room where Teoh was questioned, and where he went after that.
At 10.50am, the group went to the balcony at the 5th floor where the 30-year-old political aide's body was found on July 16 to get a better idea of the layout of the place.
After spending about 20 minutes there, they moved to the security room at the 4th floor.
Gobind said the lawyers had asked the police to conduct further investigation on certain areas that they thought were significant to the case and the team had also found two new details, which he was unable to divulge.
"I cannot give any details on the two new findings now because we hope that further investigation can be carried out. We will tell the court later (about the details)," he said, adding that the inquest will hear from the pathologists on Monday and the police's forensic experts, who had examined the building, on Wednesday.
Gobind disclosed that the pathologists' reports and relevant documents had been sent to two specialists in Thailand and Australia for a second opinion and that he may request for the two to testify in the inquest if necessary.
When approached, Cheow said the team was brought around to visualise the MACC office and to where the suspects and witnesses were taken to when they were brought in and the place for interrogation as well as the place where Teoh had purportedly rested and the place where he was last seen.
He said Azmil had also interviewed four MACC officers on duty today but refused to say what was asked by the coroner.
On the description of the window, which Teoh had allegedly fallen from, Malik Imtiaz said the window was at waist height and "it could be open very wide" when asked if a person could fall from the window.
The 15-day inquest is being held to find the cause of Teoh's death. Teoh was found dead on the fifth floor of the building, after earlier being questioned for about 11 hours by the MACC as a witness in a case of alleged misappropriation of allocations for several state assemblymen. Teoh was political secretary to state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah.
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