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(The Star) - The mysterious letter which derailed the Teoh Beng Hock inquest on Wednesday purportedly implicates a top-ranking Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer and a state Barisan Nasional leader in the mishap.
The letter, which was published in several news portals, was allegedly written by lower-ranking MACC officers, accusing the two men of having conspired to topple the Selangor government by conducting a witch-hunt of its leaders, which indirectly resulted in Teoh’s tragic death. It also accused the MACC officer of having protected the politician when he was in power before the Pakatan Rakyat coalition took over Selangor. According to the letter, the officer had received many kickbacks as payment for his service to the politician. Counsel representing Teoh’s family, Gobind Singh Deo, tendered in the letter to the coroner after informing him that an individual had handed it to him on Tuesday. One incriminating accusation in the letter is about the method the officer used as his interrogation technique – by holding the front portion of a person’s belt and lifting him several times before shaking him. (Government forensic pathologist Dr Khairul Azman Ibrahim had opined at the inquest earlier that it was possible that Teoh had been held up by the belt as it had a tear at the buckle region.) It also said the officer left the office on the first session DNA samples were taken from MACC officers to facilitate investigations into Teoh’s death. The letter alleged that during the second session, the officer gave his DNA in the privacy of his office instead of the conference room where all the officers, including the state director, had assembled to be swabbed. “Why was his DNA sample given in secrecy? Was it his own sample that was given? We MACC officers are puzzled why none of the samples extracted matched that of the mysterious male samples (found on Teoh’s blazer and belt),” the letter purportedly asked. It also recommended that the officer be swabbed again in the presence of people who can be trusted. The letter alleged that the officer had ordered his subordinates to wipe the window, from where Teoh is believed to have plunged to his death. The officer was also purportedly the last person to have seen Teoh alive, as he had not punched his card when leaving the office at 6.10am on July 16th. Meanwhile, when contacted, the politician, who was overseas, said the allegations were baseless. “I have nothing to gain by toppling the Selangor government,” he added. “I don’t think it’s the work of MACC officers. What are they going to get by making such wild allegations?” he asked. The inquest into Teoh’s death was adjourned to Monday.
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