BUTTERWORTH: A man has been charged with the murder of a 73-year-old taxi driver whose body was found in a ditch in Kepala Batas last month.
S. Ganesan, 41, was charged with murdering Haron Chua Abdullah between 2am and 4am on Oct 8 along the stretch from Jalan Tun Hamdan Sheikh Tahir to Jalan Permatang Pak Elong.
He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years, as well as at least 12 strokes of the cane if the death penalty is not imposed.
No plea was recorded as murder cases fall under the jurisdiction of the High Court. Bail was not granted.
Magistrate Aini Adilah Muhammad Faizal fixed Dec 18 for mention pending the chemical and post-mortem reports.
Haron's body was found face down in a ditch near Surau Permatang Pak Elong along Jalan Permatang Pak Elong by an angler on Oct 11.
The discovery was reported to police, who called in the Fire and Rescue Department to retrieve the body.
The remains were subsequently sent to Kepala Batas Hospital for a post-mortem.
Separately, at the same court, a Rohingya man was fined RM3,500 for using Ganesan's identity card to register a Touch 'n Go account.
Ajmul Khan Shafiullah, 41, who has lived in Malaysia for 15 years and holds a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card, was found to have used the MyKad without lawful authority on Nov 3.
The offence took place at Jalan Bertam 2 at about 4.09pm, where Ajmul used the identity card to register the account.
He was charged under Regulation 25(1)(e) of the National Registration Regulations 1990, which carries a jail term of up to three years, a fine of up to RM20,000 or both upon conviction.
Ajmul was detained at about 1.40pm on the same day in front of Block B of Sri Gotong Apartments in Batu Caves, Selangor.
A check of his mobile phone subsequently revealed the unauthorised use of Ganesan's identity card.
He was represented by lawyer Ahmad Faris Khairudin.
