KUALA LUMPUR: One of the accused charged with injuring Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) naval cadet officer, Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain, told the High Court here today that his father had the ability to ‘identify’ who had stolen a laptop at the university.
Muhammad Ashraf Abdullah, 24, said his friend, Mohd Syafiq Abdullah, who is also a former UPNM student, told him that a laptop belonging to Muhammad Akmal Zuhairi Azmal, the first accused, had gone missing.
“Syafiq asked whether my father, Haji Abdullah, could help ‘identify’ the person who stole the laptop. Some of my friends know about my father’s ‘ability’ to do this.
“Syafiq also mentioned names of those suspected to be responsible for the theft, which were Nazmi, Izzat Amir and the late Zulfarhan Osman. I agreed to ask for my father’s help and went to my room to call him,” he said when reading out his witness statement at the hearing of 18 UPNM students charged with murdering, injuring and abetting the murder of Zulfarhan Osman.
Muhammad Ashraf, who is now self-employed, said after about 30 minutes, his father called him back to inform Zulfarhan Osman could be the person who stole the laptop, although he did not back this ‘hunch’ with evidence.
“My father, however, also advised me not to take any action as there was no clear ‘sign’ (of the thief). I listened to his advice and also told Syafiq to do the same,” he said.
Answering to Deputy Public Prosecutor Julia Ibrahim during cross-examination, Muhammad Ashraf said Mohd Syafiq was aware that Zulfarhan Osman’s name had been among the names mentioned by his father as the (phone) conversation had been on speaker mode.
Asked by lawyer Ariff Azami Hussein during re-examination as to why the accused did not file a complaint to the authorities after suspecting Zulfarhan Osman of stealing the laptop, Muhammad Ashraf said it was because his father had told him not to do so as there was no evidence.
In earlier proceedings, Mohd Syafiq told the court that he had suggested to Muhammad Akmal Zuhairi to use the services of a faith healer to locate his stolen laptop.
Mohd Syafiq, the 25th prosecution witness, told the court that idea came about after he found out Muhamad Ashraf’s father had ‘abilities’ to locate missing items.
During proceedings on May 16, 2018, Muhamad Ashraf’s father, Abdullah Md Seh, 56, testified that he received a ‘sign’ that Zulfarhan Osman had stolen the laptop, saying that this ‘sign’ came from his own intuition as well as visions of his (Zulfarhan Osman) name.
On July 31, 2019, the High Court ordered the 18 to enter their defence on the charges.
Five of the accused, Muhammad Akmal, Muhammad Azamuddin, Muhammad Najib Mohd Razi, Muhammad Afif and Mohamad Shobirin Sabri are charged with murder while Abdoul Hakeem Mohd Ali is charged with abetting the murder of Zulfarhan.
They allegedly committed the offence at room 04 -10, of the Jebat hostel building in UPNM, between 4.45 am and 5.45 am on May 22, 2017.
The charges against the accused were made under Section 302 and 109 of the Penal Code, which carry the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
The six, along with 12 others, were also ordered to enter their defence on charges of injuring the victim.
The 12 are Mohd Hafiz Fauzan Ismail, Mohamad Lukhmanul Hakim Mohd Zain, Ahmad Shafwan Berdal, Muhammad Amirul Asraff Mala, Luqman Hakim Shamsuri, Muhammad Sufi Mohd Mustapha, Noriznan Izzairi Noor Azhar, Muhamad Ashraf Abdullah, Muhammad Danial Firdaus Azmir, Muhammad Hasif Ismail, Muhammad Adib Iman Fuad Adi Sany and Mohamad Syazwan Musa.
They are charged with voluntarily causing hurt against the victim for the purpose of forcing the latter to admit to the alleged theft of a laptop, according to Section 330 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Act, which imposes maximum imprisonment of seven years, and a fine, upon conviction.
The offence was allegedly committed at room 03-05, of the Jebat hostel building in UPNM, between 2.30 am and 5.30 am on May 21, 2017.
The trial before Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah continues on Dec 28. — Bernama
