IPOH: A traffic investigating officer told the High Court here today that she did not have enough time to investigate reckless and dangerous driving elements in the fatal accident case of 17-year-old Muhammad Zaharif Affendi Muhd Zamrie.
Inspector Jong Pit Chao, 37, said she only served as the investigating officer (IO) for 23 hours before it was reassigned.
She said she had been instructed to hand over the investigation to a new officer, Assistant Superintendent Chua Sze Chuan from the Ipoh police headquarters Criminal Investigation Department.
"My investigation into the incident lasted only 23 hours. On the first day at the scene, I had to 'secure' the physical evidence present at the location, which was the most important aspect to secure first.
"Based on the physical evidence I saw, I took oral statements from witnesses at the scene.
"I did not have time to further investigate whether reckless or dangerous driving was involved as before I could proceed with the investigation, I was reassigned, and the investigation was handed over to Chua," she said.
Jong said this when questioned by deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz in the trial of Mohd Nazri Abdul Razak, a 45-year-old senior police officer holding the rank of deputy superintendent.
Nazri is charged with murdering Zaharif by ramming into his motorcycle while driving a Perodua Ativa, near SMK Jati between 11.45am and 12.32pm on Dec 15 last year.
The charge, framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carries a death sentence or between 30 and 40 years' imprisonment and not less than 12 strokes of the cane, upon conviction.
Jong is the 29th prosecution witness in the 17th day of the trial before judge Datuk Bhupindar Singh Gucharan Singh Preet.
Besides Afzainizam, other members of the prosecution team are DPPs Nasrul Hadi Abdul Ghani, V. Suloshani and Low Qin Hui, while the accused is represented by M. Athimulan, Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid and Hakim Kamaruzzaman.
Lawyer Syaheera Rosli, meanwhile, is holding a watching brief for Zaharfif's family,
Jong said although the initial classification of the case was under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for reckless driving, this did not mean her investigation was limited to elements under that section alone.
"An investigation is initiated based on the first report (FRI).
"Based on the report, the police classified the case under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 but that does not mean my investigation is only focused on Section 41(1) and my investigation must take into account all aspects, including Section 302 of the Penal Code," she said.
During the proceedings, Afzainizam also questioned why Jong deleted two dashcam recordings from a woman driving a Mitsubishi Triton which showed Zaharif being struck.
She explained that she thought it unnecessary to keep the videos after she took the necessary follow-up actions, such as informing the dashcam owner that she was no longer the investigating officer and forwarding the videos to Chua via WhatsApp.
"I forwarded the two videos to Chua and informed him that these were recordings I received from a witness (the woman who owned the Mitsubishi Triton).
"I also told Chua to contact the witness. After I took these actions, there was no need for me to keep the dashcam recordings," he said.
Jong clarified that she disagreed with the defence's suggestion yesterday that her investigation was biased in favour of one party.
"I disagree because I answered questions based on my investigation and knowledge. That's all," she said.
Meanwhile, the 30th prosecution witness, Hamirrol Hazlan Hamzah, 40, an assistant medical officer at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital, identified and confirmed 108 photos of Zaharif's injuries shown in court as matching the images he took during the post-mortem procedure on Dec 15 last year.
He said the specimens and case materials were later collected by Chua on Dec 18 last year.
The trial then adjourned and will continue on Jan 6.