Tawau murder case: Esscom intelligence chief among six cops charged

KOTA KINABALU: The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) intelligence chief is among six policemen charged with the murder of an ehailing driver in Tawau last month.

SAC Datuk Mat Zaki Md Zain, 58, was charged with abetting the murder of Nurman Bakaratu, 61, at an oil palm plantation near Jalan Anjur Juara, Jalan Apas, Batu 5, here between 7.30pm and 11.30pm on Jan 13.

He was accused of abetting the crime whereas Rosdi Rasatam, 44, Dennis Anat Enit, 44, Fabian Anak Rungam, 43, Khairul Azman Bakar, 47, Mohd Azlan Sakaran, 39, and a civilian, Vivian Fabian, 34, were charged with reaching a common intention to kill Nurman.

They were brought before Tawau magistrate Dzul Elmy Yunus to face the charge on Wednesday (Feb 8).

No plea was recorded from all the accused while the court has set April 11 for case mention.

So far, only Khairul and Rosdi were represented.

Counsel Chen Wen Jye, Ram Singh and Kimberly Ye are representing Khairul while lawyers Kamarudin Chengki and Timothy Daut are defending Rosdi.

Earlier Wednesday, Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Idris Abdullah said they have completed their investigations into the case with the investigation papers forwarded to the Attorney General’s office on Tuesday (Feb 7).

He said the suspects face the mandatory death sentence if convicted.

It was reported on Jan 28 that the suspects were nabbed in connection with killing Nurman whose body was found in a bush on Jan 16.

On Jan 30, the victim’s ex-wife Nurima Juli, 33, who is unemployed, was charged with the murder in the oil palm plantation between 7.30pm and 9pm on Jan 13.

On Jan 31, Idris was reported as saying that the murder was motivated by jealousy and did not involve security issues in Sabah.