Dashcam Analysis Shows No Crash Footage, Court Told

IPOH, Jan 10 (Bernama) -- The High Court here was told today that an analysis of the dashcam in a Perodua Ativa, driven by a senior police officer involved in a crash with a Form Five student in Dec 2023, showed that it had been accessed a day after the incident.

The 33rd prosecution witness ASP S. Dasarathan, who is also a senior investigating officer from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) at the Ipoh police headquarters, said the findings were based on a forensic analysis report by ASP Nur Fairuz Idris regarding the evidence marked AC5.

"My initial checks with the forensic team found no footage related to the incident. The last recorded footage was on Dec 19, 2022. Between Dec 20, 2022 to Dec 15, 2023, no recordings were made.

“This was confirmed by evidence showing that the dashcam had been removed during the installation of window tint on the vehicle earlier," he said.

Dasarathan was reading his witness statement before Judge Datuk Bhupindar Singh Gucharan Singh Preet at the trial of senior police officer DSP Mohd Nazri Abdul Razak, 45, who was charged with killing Muhammad Zaharif Affendi Muhd Zamrie, 17, at Jalan Taman Jati 1 near SMK Jati here between 11.45 am to 12.32 pm on Dec 15, 2023.

Dasarathan also said that he took over the investigation from ASP Chua Sze Yuan on Dec 18, 2023, upon the directive of the deputy chief of CID (Investigation and Legal) at the Perak contingent police headquarters (IPK), through Ipoh CID chief DSP Mohd Zulkefli Mohd Mukhtar.

He further testified that the tire tread marks found on the T-shirt and pants of the deceased did not match the tire prints from either the Perodua Ativa or the Yamaha 135 LC motorcycle ridden by the victim.

“This is based on a chemical analysis report from a chemist, which indicated that the friction and tears on the T-shirt, pants, underwear, helmet, backpack and shoes were consistent with abrasion against hard and rough surface.

"Although patterned marks were found on the T-shirt and pants, it was not possible to determine if these were tire marks, as no comparison samples were provided," he explained.

Additionally, Dasarathan said forensic analysis of both vehicles revealed foreign paint fragments from the motorcycle that were similar to the white paint from the car.

The prosecution is being conducted by DPPs Afzainizam Abdul Aziz, Nasrul Hadi Abdul Ghani and Low Qin Hui, while Mohd Nazri is represented by lawyers M. Athimulan, Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid, and Aiman Hakim Kamaruzzaman, with lawyer Syaheera Rosli holding a watching brief.

Mohd Nazri is charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment of 30 to 40 years and a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane upon conviction.

The trial continues Tuesday.

-- BERNAMA