Cop: Canny gestured as though begging for help

BY CHELSEA L.Y. NG

SHAH ALAM: A policeman told the High Court that Canny Ong Lay Kian had gestured twice to him as though begging for help when he stopped to check her identity and that of the accused while patrolling in Petaling Jaya on June 13. 

However, L/Kpl S. Ravichandran, who was in plainclothes during the patrol, did not understand what Canny was trying to say. 

“She pressed her palms to her chest and pointed at the man on the driver’s seat. Then she quickly put her palms together like praying. 

“She did that while the driver was talking to me. I was asking him to get out of the car.  

“When the driver turned to look at her, she quickly hid her hands and sat still,” L/Kpl Ravichandran said when testifying at the trial of Ahmad Najib Aris, a 27-year-old aircraft cabin cleaner accused of raping and murdering Canny at the 11th kilometre, Old Klang Road, between 1am and 5am on June 14. 

L/Kpl Ravichandran, the fourth prosecution witness, said the driver, whom he identified as the accused, refused to get out of the car that was parked beside a quiet road in Taman Perindustrian Jaya near the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang. 

“He asked for my authority card. At the same time, the woman made the same gestures again behind him.  

“I did not give my authority card to the man. Suddenly he noticed her making the gestures and immediately locked the door and wound up the window,” he said. 

When he tried to open the car door, the man started the car, he said. 

He said he began to suspect that the man had committed some kesalahan berdua-duaan (close proximity offence) or had hidden something illegal in the car. 

“So, I took out my pistol and shot at the front right tyre to stop the car.  

“I shot twice but the tyre did not deflate,” he added. 

When asked by DPP Salehuddin Saidin on whether he suspected anything after Canny gestured twice to him in the car, L/Kpl Ravichandran said:  

“I did not think there was anything to it,” adding that he was only thinking about the driver who was trying to escape after committing an offence. 

“My intention was to catch him,” he said, adding that the accused sped off without his identity card and that of Canny’s. 

He said he and his patrol partner, who was also not in uniform, chased after the car on their Yamaha RX100 motorcycles. 

However, they failed to track down the accused after having followed him to the Kelana Jaya Business Centre near Glomac. 

On why he did not call for back-up, L/Kpl Ravichandran said he could not see the car registration number. 

He said he and his partner combed the nearby area before going back to their station in Kelana Jaya to lodge a report. 

“In the station, I did a search on the computer based on the particulars in the identity cards. I found that the woman and the man had no criminal records. 

“Then, I informed my superior about the incident and he told me to keep the identity cards and that he would investigate the matter,” he said. 

Five days later, he went to the Petaling Jaya CID chief’s office after spotting Canny’s photographs in the newspapers. 

Earlier, L/Kpl Ravichandran also testified that he and his partner checked on the accused and Canny when he saw the car for the second time since it was parked at the roadside since 11.15pm. 

He said Canny looked calm when she handed over her identity card to him while he asked the accused to get out of the car. 

The accused refused to leave, saying that he had a little problem to sort out with Canny whom he claimed was his girlfriend, he added. 

The hearing before Justice Muhamad Ideres Muhamad Rapiee continues today.  

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