'No phone signals at crime scene'

• Telco’s call logs unreliable over site names, court told
• Fernandez’s case off yet again

SHAH ALAM: Three phone logs which put murder accused Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri at the crime scene on the night Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered were inaccurate and unreliable, the High Court heard yesterday.

Counsel J. Kuldeep Kumar said the three documents containing information on the telecommunication centre's base stations to trace the location of handphone users could not be relied on because they did not have a permanent radius.

Kuldeep, who is representing Azilah, was making submissions at the end of the prosecution case to exclude three of Azilah's phone logs which placed him at the crime scene on the night of the murder.

"According to a witness from Celcom, Haizal Hambali, the base station coverage overlaps from one area to another. It was also established that no signals could be obtained to complete call transactions at hilly areas, while a low signal would be captured in jungle areas."

Kuldeep submitted that one of the logs (a call details record) was not provided for prepaid customers (such as Azilah) to allow him the opportunity to see if the site name information was accurate.

"The arrangements of the call log, structure and column were also incomplete and not organised.

"Further, another witness from Celcom, Nik Kamarudin Nik Ka, testified that he did not know if the data in the logs were manipulated or altered."

Kuldeep argued that there were 21 missing data from the log extraction which could have exonerated Azilah.

"There were also mistakes in technical terms for SMSes and calls made in the logs. This proves that the computer printing these documents was faulty and that the information contained was inaccurate."

Azilah, 31, and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 36, both Special Action Squad members, are charged with murdering Altantuya at Mukim Bukit Raja, Selangor, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am the following day. Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, 47, is charged with abetting them.

Submissions before High Court judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin continue today.

-TMB