Five men charged with murder

However, no plea was recorded from the accused, aged between 26 and 40, after the charge was read out to them before Magistrate Nur Melati Diana Abd Wahab as the case comes under the jurisdiction of the High Court.

S. Jeyenthiran, 34, S. Simeon, 31, Basharuddin Hammersla, 26, T. Selvamani, 40, and V. Thiruganesh, 36, together with two other individuals still at large, are alleged to have murdered A. Preshna, 40, in Jalan Che Puteh, between 7.30 am and 5.30 pm, on May 23.

The charge was framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same law, which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

Jeyenthiran, Simeon, Basharuddin and Selvamani were also charged with kidnapping Preshna in order to murder him, under Section 364 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same code which provides a death sentence or maximum 30 years' jail and whipping, if convicted.

They were alleged to have committed the offence at an abandoned building here, at 7.30 am, on the same day.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor K.Darinee while the accused were represented by lawyer K. Nahtan and Charan Singh.

The court set August 4 for mention.

Meanwhile Ipoh district police chief ACP A.Asmadi Abdul Aziz in a statement today, said the police are tracking down two individuals to assist in the investigation into the murder case.

The two are Harjit Singh Terlok Singh, also known as Kishen, 25, whose last known address is Menglembu here, and M. Muralitharan or Murali, 23, from Tanjung Rambutan.