Police and Ean Yong point fingers at each other over investigation delay

(Bernama) – Until last night, 45 individuals were called by police to give their statements pertaining to the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock.

Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said among those who had given their statements were former ISA detainee and Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M. Manoharan.

But unfortunately, he said, after keeping the police waiting for three hours yesterday, state executive council (exco) member Ean Yong Hian Wah declined to give his statement, saying that the Selangor Mentri Besar had informed him that statements from witnesses could not be recorded after 6pm.

“He (Ean Yong) had earlier told our officers to come to his office at 3pm for his statement to be recorded and made to wait until 6pm, but he declined to give his statement,” Khalid told reporters during his visit to Safe Deposit Box Sdn Bhd, at The Summit shopping complex in Subang Jaya, near here, today.

The late Teoh, 30, was the political aide of Ean Yong, who is learnt to have finally given his statement to the police at 3.30pm today.

Khalid said there was no law preventing police from recording statements from witnesses after 6pm.

“I am disappointed . . . various quarters have been calling on the police to speed up the investigation. Therefore, we are asking all witnesses in this case to give their full cooperation to the police in order to expedite our investigation.”

Asked about the Selangor police chief’s statement that he was not cooperative with the police yesterday, Ean Yong said the investigating officer (IO) arrived at 3.40pm and took Manoharan’s statement first until nearly 7pm.

“I was the one waiting for the IO, not the IO waiting for me. I had cancelled all my appointments from 3pm to 6pm because I wanted to cooperate with the police,” he said.

Khalid also said the two pathologists who performed the post-mortem on Teoh again visited the spot where Teoh’s body was found on the 5th floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam this morning.

He said forensic experts would also inspect the window on the 14th floor from where Teoh could have fallen to his death as a broken latch was found at the scene.

Located on the 14th floor is the Selangor headquarters of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) where Teoh had given his statement as a witness in the investigation into alleged misappropriation of state allocations just before his sudden death.

Khalid also reminded all parties not to create tension by speculating or distorting facts pertaining to Teoh’s death, but to wait for the investigation to be completed.

On his visit to SDB, he said it was to see the security systems and equipment offered by the company.

Later, Ean Yong confirmed that police took his statement at his office on the 15th floor of the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Building in Shah Alam from 3.30pm to 6.30pm today where he answered 50 questions on 11 pages posed by ASP Mohd Amirul Abdullah from the Shah Alam police headquarters.

He said he was accompanied by lawyer Keppy Wong during the interrogation.

Ean Yong said various aspects were covered where he was asked, among others, whether Teoh had a mental or financial problem, whether he had made false claims, and how many girlfriends did Teoh have.

He said Teoh did phone him between 6pm and 6.30pm last Wednesday when the latter was at the MACC office at Plaza Masalam. Then at 11.3Opm, he and a lawyer went to the MAAC office to meet Teoh but was not allowed by an officer.

On the Cabinet’s decision today for an inquest into Teoh’s death to be held next week headed by a magistrate, Ean Yong who is Selangor DAP chief, said he wanted a royal commission to conduct the investigation instead.

A statement was also taken from Ean Yong’s private secretary Hiew Kim Boon at the same place from 3.55pm to 5.25pm by ASP Mohd Hafiz Yaakob from the Klang district police headquarters. Hiew was accompanied by Manoharan as his lawyer.