Malaysia Crime Watch

13 July 2007
Shah Alam

Training officer DSP M.V. Sri Kumar M. Nair, aged 41, told the High Court in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial yesterday the details of basic training and handling of explosives by operatives of the Special Action Squad (UTK). Accused Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar have undergone basic training in the use of explosives and firearms, but not in advanced explosives and breach training.

Sri Kumar joined UTK in 1987 and has been a trainer for the past six years. The basic explosives training includes taking a small amount of explosives to the field for practical training. Among the explosives operatives use, they are able to use plastic explosives (PE), cutting linear charges (CLC), detonating chords, detonators, sound devices and flash bangs.

The explosives which are retrieved from the store have to have a form filled up with details such as the amount, type and reasons for taking them. Senior officers could ask their officers to collect the explosives on their behalf.

Sri Kumar said that operatives must return the full amount if it is not used, and it is possible for them to take some leftover without being noticed.

Counsel Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, who is appearing for Azhar, questioned Sri Kumar what would happen if CLC was exploded on the ground. He said it would depend on the material of the ground, and in normal cases, a crater would be formed.

Hotel Malaya operations manager Jimmy Loo Mow Chan, aged 50, testified yesterday that tapes recording footage from three closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) were siezed by police last year on 9, 18, and 19 October. He said Altantuya checked into the hotel on 9 October 2006 and stay in room 817.

The manager of the 41-year-old hotel along Jalan Hang Lekiu said he knew that Altantuya had changed rooms twice but he could not remember when and why.

Sergeant Amran Abdul Aziz came to the hotel and asked Loo for Altantuya’s registration form and CCTV recordings.

Then in May, ASP Tonny Lunggan, Supt Amidon Anan and a police photographer, went to Loo’s office and asked him to playback the three tapes. Loo played back the tapes and occasionally froze the playback to let the photographer take pictures of the image. Eight shots were taken from the 18 October tape, between 4:54pm and 5pm. Seven shots of these shots were of the hotel lobby, and the last one was of the eight floor lift area. Altantuya stayed on the eighth floor.

Deputy public prosecutor Manoj Kurup then announced that the tapes will be played back in court next Monday.

New Straits Times – Altantuya murder trial: Azilah and Sirul not bomb experts, says witness
<URL:http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/20070713080444/Article/index_html>

New Straits Times – Altantuya murder trial: Court to view hotel’s CCTV tapes on Monday
<URL:http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/20070713080528/Article/index_html>

MCW – Five Police Officers Testify as Prosecution Witnesses at Altantuya Trial
<URL:http://malaysiacrimewatch.lokety.com/five-police-officers-testify-as/>

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