INQUEST: Murder angle 'never investigated'

(NST) SHAH ALAM: The possibility that political aide Teoh Beng Hock was pushed out of the building, which led to his death, was never investigated. Instead, police had only focused their investigations on whether Teoh could have fallen out the window or had committed suicide. This was the allegation from counsel Gobind Singh Deo, who is holding a watching brief for Teoh's family in the inquest to determine how he died. "The possibility that Teoh was pushed out of the window of the 14th floor (the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's state office occupies the 14th and 15th floors of Plaza Masalam) was not investigated" he said after visiting the scene yesterday. "This dampens our case."   He said he believed that Teoh was murdered and would elicit this evidence during the inquest. "If necessary, we will make an application to coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas to order the police to carry out further investigations on this angle. "So far, witnesses in the inquest have testified based only on the possibility that he had fallen from the building or had committed suicide. "The police may have overlooked the murder angle." After the site visit, Gobind said they wanted the police to investigate two items. He, however, did not reveal what they were. Counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said parties involved in the inquest were given a "guided tour" of the scene by investigating officer ASP Ahmad Nazri Zainal. "The I.O. brought us to the places where Teoh was that night and to the site where he died." Malik said the window from which Teoh fell could be opened wide but he would not speculate on how Teoh had died. On the fourth day of the inquest yesterday, the court visited the MACC's office in Plaza Masalam to give parties a chance to visualise and to get a better understanding of the surroundings. They were first taken to the MACC offices at levels 14 and 15 and then to the fifth floor where Shorga Sdn Bhd was located and through which they went to the site where Teoh's body was found. They also went to another office, Tuah Tankers Sdn Bhd, also on the fifth floor, before the "tour" ended at the Plaza Masalam control room at the lobby. The court authorities arrived at 9.30am and left some two hours later. Some 30 policemen escorted the entourage.