KUALA LUMPUR, 27 APRIL, 2011: A Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer today denied having an SMS exchange with a colleague two days after the death of Teoh Beng Hock.

Klang MACC Asst Supt Zulkelfly Aziz told the Commission of Inquiry investigating the death of the political aide that the handphone involved was not his. 

He made the denial when for the first time, the commission allowed the witness to make a call in the middle of the inquiry proceedings.

The 15-minute exchange from 11am was to confirm the contents of the SMS exchange, which lawyer Cheow Wee of the Bar Council claimed was sent by Zulkelfly on July 18 2009 to MACC investigating officer Mohd Anuar Ismail.

Cheow Wee then read out a SMS text to Zulkelfly whose nickname is 'Ustaz Zul'.
 
   
"Sabar banyak-banyak bro. Gunakan pengalaman yang ada untuk selesaikan masalah...lari bukan jalan penyelesaian doa orang yang teraniaya tiada hijab di sisi allah pasti pegawai atasan beri sokongan."

(Translation: Have lots of patience bro. Use the experience you have to solve the problem...running away is not the answer, the prayers of the oppressed go directly to Allah, I am sure the higher ups will give support).

However, after calling the number given by Cheow Wee, Zulkelfly told the inquiry that the real owner of the telephone number was one 'Zul', and not himself based on the person at the other end.

Teoh, 30, who was the political aide of Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on the fifth floor corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009, after being questioned overnight at the Selangor MACC office on the 14th floor.

Besides this, Cheow Wee also questioned Zulkelfly about discrepancies in his statement to the police on July 31 2009 and during today's proceedings whereby to the police the officer had said that he went home at 3.15am on July 16 2009 but to the inquiry he had stated that he slept at the surau on the 13th floor of Plaza Massalam from 3.15am till 6am after which he wanted to get back into the
Selangor MACC office but could not because he did not have an access card.
  
   
Zulkefly told the inquiry that he then returned to the Klang MACC office at 7am to punch his card before going home.

Asked by Cheow Wee whether he was aware of the descrepancy, Zulkefly said: "I realised one week after but did not think there was much relevance."

This answer earned the ire of the inquiry's chairman Tan Sri James Foong Cheng Yuen who advised him to cooperate with the commission so that how Teoh died could be determined.

Zulkelfly also agreed with Dean of Cyberjaya Medical Science College University, Professor Dr Mohamed Hatta Shaharom that the descrepancy could have been because of carelessness on his part when giving his statement to the police. 

Another MACC officer Mohd Yusmizan Mohd Yusof told the inquiry that he was not involved in MACC's operations in Seri Kembangan and Kampung Tunku.

"I only went to Kim Tan Enterprise on July 15 2009 with a colleague to verify if the company had supplied books to Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Sg Way," he said when questioned by lawyer Edmund Bon, also from the Bar Council.
   

Mohd Yusmizan also said he had been close to Selangor MACC officer Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus (one of the MACC officers who questioned Teoh) but two months after Teoh's death, the latter did not mix much with his colleagues.

He also agreed with Edmund that Mohd Ashraf had contacted him on July 16 2009 but the call was about a house put up for sale.

"He knew I was looking for a house but I told him I was not too keen about the one he mentioned. I then told him about Teoh's death and asked him to come to the Selangor MACC office. I was shocked to hear from him that there no one had told him about Teoh's death and that I was the first to inform him about it," he said.

The other members the commission are former Federal Court judge Datuk Abdul Kadir Sulaiman, former Court of Appeal judge Datuk T.S.Nathan and Penang Hospital's forensic pathologist Datuk Dr Bhupinder Singh.

The setting up of the commission was announced by Najib on Jan 26, which among the objectives, was to investigate the cause of Teoh's death after the Coroner's Court returned an open verdict. 

The hearing continues.

- Bernama