TAWAU: The High Court here was told that ehailing driver Nurman Bakaratu checked into a hotel on Jan 13, 2023 and subsequently left the hotel in the afternoon the same day.
On the same date, Nurman, 61, was murdered in an oil palm plantation near Jalan Anjur Juara, Jalan Apas Batu 5 here, between 7.30pm and 11.30pm.
The manager of the hotel Adam Lim Ka Kiet, 30, also confirmed that Nurman had checked into the hotel based on a printout of the registration form and the hotel invoice.
Lim confirmed this during the examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Rohaiza Abd Rahman on the fifth day of the trial of six policemen and a civilian, charged with killing the ehailing driver early last year, along with former Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) head of intelligence staff Mat Zaki Md Zain, who is accused of abetment.
During questioning Rohaiza asked Lim whose name was on the printout of the registration form and hotel invoice
Lim identified the printout of the registration form and invoice and replied the name on the documents was Nurman Bakaratu.
Meanwhile, the court viewed nine CCTV recordings showing a man entering a hotel with a woman on the date (Jan 13).
In response to Rohaiza's question, Lim, who is also the 14th prosecution witness, said he did not recognise the individuals in the footage.
When asked if he recognise Nurman, Lim said he had never seen him before.
Meanwhile, in response to a question from lawyer Datuk Ansari Abdullah, Lim said the man in the CCTV footage was seen leaving the hotel between 6pm and 7pm.
Ansari said the video showed the man carrying a white plastic bag when checking into the hotel at 3.48pm on Jan 13, 2023, to which the witness agreed.
However, Lim said he was unsure if the man was carrying a plastic bag when leaving the hotel on the same day and no items were found in the room after Nurman left.
In response to a question from lawyer Datuk Ram Singh about whether the witness inquired about the relationship between the man and the woman who entered and stayed in room 403, the witness replied, "no."
When cross-examined by Rohaiza, the witness said he knew that the man left between 6pm and 7pm after checking the hotel system.
Policemen Rosdi Rastam, 45; Denis Anit, 45; Fabian Rungam, 44; Khairul Azman Bakar, 47; Mohd Azlan Sakaran, 40; John Kennedy Sanggah, 44; and a civilian Vivien Fabian, 34, are charged with the murder of Nurman at a palm oil plantation near Jalan Anjur Juara, Jalan Apas Baru 5 here.
They were accused of committing the act between 7.30pm and 11.30pm on Jan 13 last year and were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read with Section 34 of the same code, which provides for the death penalty if convicted.
Mat Zaki, 59, is facing two charges of conspiring to kill Nurman according to Section 109 of the Penal Code read with Section 302 of the same code.
The trial before Judge Datuk Duncan Sikodol continues on Tuesday (Jan 23). – Bernama
