JOHOR BAHARU: Three men, including two siblings, were discharged and acquitted by the High Court here yesterday on a charge of murdering a policeman four years ago.
Judicial Commissioner Samsudin Hassan held that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against S Velo, 34, S Murugan, 36, and S Thanasilan, 25 under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death sentence, upon conviction.
Velo, a former security guard and brothers Murugan and Thanasilan, who worked in a garage, were jointly charged with murdering policeman C Selva Ganesan in an oil palm plantation near the Chinese Cemetery in Taman Skudai Baru, Skudai, between 3.40am Sept 17 and 9.50am Sept 20, 2009.
In his judgement, Samsudin said none of the prosecution witnesses could link the trio to the crime.
“So the court finds that the prosecution has failed to prove a prima facie case against the three accused and therefore orders them to be discharged and acquitted,” he said.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Rahimah Abd Majid appeared for the prosecution while the three men were represented by lawyer Tun Mohamad Amar Aziz. — Bernama