‘I didn’t know about body in drum I filled with cement’

Witness says he knew there was a gunny sack inside the drum, but did not know Kevin Morais' body was in it.

KUALA LUMPUR: A former second accused in the murder of deputy public prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais told the High Court here today he did not know that there was a body in the drum when he was filling it with cement.

G Gunasekaran, 49, said he filled the drum with cement on Sept 4, 2015 and only knew there was a body inside it the following day.

“On Sept 4, I filled the drum with cement. I realised about the body the next day, but did not lodge a police report,” he added.

He said this during cross-examination by lawyer V Rajehgopal, representing M Vishwanath, S Nimalan and S Ravi Chandaran, three of the accused in Kevin Morais’ murder trial.

Gunasekaran, who is the 54th witness, was testifying in the murder trial which entered its 42nd day today.

Gunasekaran, who is unemployed, was called to testify as a prosecution witness after changing his not guilty plea to guilty on a charge of concealing Kevin Morais’ body and disposing of the deceased’s car.

The man said he knew that there was a gunny sack inside the drum, but did not know Kevin Morais’ body was in it.

He also told the court that his reason for making the guilty plea was because he realised that it was his action in filling the cement in the drum which contained the body that implicated him in the case.

“I knew (there was a body) the next day, but did not inform the police. I pleaded guilty. I accepted the punishment because I hid the facts,” he added.

Questioned by Rajehgopal on the amount of cement that was filled in the drum, Gunasekaran said he was not sure because the work was done with the two accused in the case — Nimalan and Ravi Chandaran.

Five men — Dinishwaran, 25; Thinesh Kumar, 24; Vishwanath, 27; Nimalan, 24; and Ravi Chandaran, 46 — had pleaded not guilty and claimed trial to a charge of murdering Kevin Morais along Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul to No 1 Jalan USJ1/6D, Subang Jaya, between 7am and 8pm on Sept 4, 2015.

Kunaseegaran, 54, who is the first accused, claimed trial to abetting them in committing the offence at the same place, date and time.

The hearing before judge Azman Abdullah continues tomorrow. -FMT