SEPANG — The police yesterday obtained a court order to extend the remand of three suspects in the case over the disappearance in Malaysia of Indian millionaire businessman A Muthuraja until Oct 7.
REMAND EXTENDED: Hurman (right) greeting one of Sosilawati’s lawyers Datuk Ng See Teong upon arriving at KLIA police station to extend the remand of the three suspects in the case. — Bernama photo
The remand order on the suspects, including the two lawyer brothers, was issued by Magistrate Hurman Hussain at the KL International Airport (KLIA) police station here.
One of the suspects is also the main suspect in the case of the Banting murders involving cosmetics queen Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya.
The three suspects were brought in a police car to the KLIA police station at 9.30am and taken away about an hour later.
“The police sought an extension of the remand by seven days but the magistrate only gave six days,” said Ravi Nekoo, the lawyer representing the lawyer brothers, when approached outside the police station.
Friday, the Teluk Datok Magistrate’s Court in Banting, Selangor, allowed an extension of the remand until Oct 8 of five other suspects in the Sosilawati murder case.
Ravi said he had raised again with the magistrate that he and other lawyers had been denied permission to meet with his clients.
“The main suspect has told the magistrate that he was not given the chance to meet us. We view this matter seriously because access to a lawyer is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Federal Constitution,” he said.
Although the lawyers had met with their clients a number of times, they were only for brief periods, he said.
He said he had written to the inspector-general of police and its deputy and other senior officers on the matter but there had been no response so far.
“In view of their detention since Sept 11 without legal representation, we feel that it is a serious matter,” he said.
Ravi said one of the lawyer suspects informed the magistrate yesterday about this and he was allowed to lodge a police report.
Asked why the extension of the remand was only for six days, Ravi said the magistrate felt that it was sufficient based on the documents provided by the police.
The extension of remand in connection with the investigation into the Muthuraja case is the second time and the fourth in the Sosilawati case.
Muthuraja, 34, was reported missing after he had arrived at the KLIA here on Jan 18.
His wife, S Usharani, 4, lodged a report at the Banting police station on Sept 8 and has given a statement at the Kuala Langat district police headquarters.
Two brothers of Muthuraja, Dr Kasi Viswanathan and Vijay Subramaniam, have also given statements at the Kuala Langat police station.
Sosilawati, 47, her driver Kamaruddin Shamsudin, 44, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, and CIMB Bank officer Noorhisham Mohd., 38, were reported missing on Aug 30, after they had gone to Banting over a land deal.
Police found out that they had been killed, their bodies burnt and the ashes thrown into rivers in the vicinity of Ladang Gadong Tanjung Sepat, near Banting.
They picked up eight suspects to assist in the investigation into the murders. — Bernama