KAJANG: A 41-year-old man involved in a high-profile fatal road rage incident on the North South Expressway (NSE) in Bangi, recently, was charged at the Magistrate's Court here, today.
However, no plea was recorded from Yew Wei Liang when the charge was read to him before magistrate Nor Afidah Idris.
Yew, clad in a black shirt, was calm as he was ushered into the dock by policemen at about 10.30am.
According to the charge sheet, the accused allegedly murdered Syed Muhammad Danial Syed Shakir near KM293.6 of the North South Expressway (NSE) between 1pm and 2pm on Aug 10.
The offence falls under Section 302 of Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death penalty.
Deputy public prosecutor Siti Noor Hafizan Zakaria prosecuted, while the accused was represented by S. Selvam and O. Varghese.
During the proceeding today, Selvam lodged a complaint to the court that his client had been beaten and abused by police during interrogation.
"Our client was forced to admit to the murder offence by police when he was admitted at the Kajang Hospital.
“Thus, we are seeking the court to hear our complaint under Section 131 of the Criminal Procedure Code," he said.
Meanwhile, Varghese said tampering of evidence might have occurred as Yew's father-in-law claimed that he received a phone call from the accused's wife.
"The phone should be under police's possession during the probe," he said.
When met after the proceeding, Varghese declined to elaborate on the complaint filed by him and his colleague.
"We cannot explain further, but we will lodge a police report regarding this issue," he said.
No bail was offered to the accused as the offence is non-bailable.
Yew was sent to the Sungai Buloh prison.
The court then fixed Sept 27 for mention and to hear the complaint by the defence.
The Aug 10 incident began as a fender bender between Syed Muhammad Danial and Yew near the Sungai Besi toll plaza.
Both vehicles were then involved in a high-speed chase, until both drivers stopped and engaged in a physical altercation, which was broken up by other motorists.
Syed Muhammad Danial and the suspect eventually returned to their respective cars – but the former, still displeased, allegedly alighted from his car armed with a baseball bat, and began swinging at the front portion of the suspect’s car.
In response, the suspect allegedly accelerated his vehicle, which rammed into Syed Muhammad Danial, pinning him between the suspect's car and the road divider.
Syed Muhammad Daniel later died at the Nilai Medical Centre.