Four Men Charged With Murder of Businessman

BATU PAHAT: Four men were produced before the Magistrate’s Court here on charges of murdering a businessman whose body was found tied up, wrapped in netting and dumped in a river earlier this month.

The accused, S Yogesvaran, 40, Lim Yong Ming, 26, N Achutan, 32, and How Han Wei, 33, nodded in understanding as the charges were read out by the interpreter before Magistrate Mustaqim Sukarno in Bahasa Malaysia.

However, no plea was recorded from the accused as the case under Section 302 of the Penal Code falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court.

The accused are charged with murdering Low Kai Xian, 39, between 2.35 pm on July 29 at the premises of Sinhai Sdn Bhd, No 28, Jalan Emas Putih 2, Taman Sri Skudai, Johor Bahru, and 12.30 pm on August 3 at Sungai Tanjung Sembrong here.

The charge was framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which upon conviction carries the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 to 40 years and a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane, if the death penalty is not imposed.

The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Shahzleen Ibrahim, while Yogesvaran, Yong Ming and Han Wei were represented by lawyer SJ Sean Dudley, and Achutan was represented by Datin Freda Sabapathy.

Also following the proceedings were observers for the victim’s family, lawyers Chuah Shyue Chien and Kenji Soh Xin Da.

Four men charged at the Batu Pahat Magistrate’s Court today for the murder of a businessman.

The court set October 14 for case mention to obtain the post-mortem report, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), closed-circuit television (CCTV) forensics and mobile phone forensics.

Previously, police arrested five suspects following the discovery of the body of a 39-year-old man, found floating while wrapped in netting in Sungai Tanjung Sembrong, Parit Raja near here, earlier this month.

The body was found by residents in a gruesome state.

Based on police preliminary investigations, the suspects are believed to have killed the victim by strangling him with a rope.

The suspects then transported the victim in a vehicle before tying both his hands with adhesive tape and wrapping his body with netting.

Investigations also found that five pieces of stone were discovered on the body, believed to have been used to sink the victim immediately after the murder.

The victim was reported missing by his wife since July 29, and his family only found his vehicle in Johor Bahru.

A check of the suspects’ criminal records found that two of them had prior records related to crime and drugs.

All five suspects were then arrested last week, and the motive for the murder is believed to be due to debt.

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