SHAH ALAM: The Coroner’s Court here was told yesterday that inspections on the Fire Rescue Tender (FRT) vehicle and the Emergency Medical Rescue Service (EMRS) van did not find any evidence to link the collision between the two vehicles to human during the riot at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya, in November last year.
Chemistry Department science officer Muhamad Firdhaus Ramli said the inspections on the two vehicles were done nine days after the riot and upon instruction from the police.
“During the inspections, there was no shirt, fibre or any biological evidence, such as hair or blood, found on both vehicles,” he said in reply to deputy public prosecutor Faten Hadni Khairuddin, who is conducting the inquest into firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim’s death.
Faten: Is it possible for a collision between a vehicle and human to occur without leaving any fibre or biological evidence?
Mohd Firdhaus: Yes.
Faten: Can the biological evidence disappear if the vehicle is left exposed or uncovered for several days before inspections were done?
Mohd Firdhaus: In my opinion, biological evidence can disappear due to environmental factors, such as rains.
Faten: According to the police, the two (FRT and EMRS) vehicles were attacked by rioters using some weapons and their bare hands. Why is that no DNA was found?
Mohd Firdhaus: According to science, if there was a collision, there must be physical touch, but my inspections did not find any biological evidence.
The 26th witness said inspections were done on the FRT and EMRS vehicles at the Subang Jaya Police Contingent headquarters at 10am on Dec 5 last year after being instructed by the Criminalistics Division director.
“Inspections were done to ascertain the effect of the collision and whether there was a human involved,” he said.
Mohd Firdhaus said the inspection on the FMT found some damage on the left side rear of the vehicle and also a cracked windscreen.
“And the inspection on the EMRS van found some damage, namely a dent, that is consistent with the damage on the FRT vehicle,” he said, adding that among the specimens taken from the two vehicles were the specimens of black, red, white and yellow paints.
Muhammad Adib, who was a member of the EMRS unit of the Subang Jaya fire and rescue station, was seriously injured during the riot at the temple on Nov 27 last year.
He succumbed to his injuries on Dec 17 at the National Heart Institute (IJN) in Kuala Lumpur.
The hearing before Coroner Rofiah Mohamad continues today. – Bernama
