By Debra Chong and Neville Spykerman
SHAH ALAM : The highly-charged investigation into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock took yet another twist today when the lawyer for his family, Gobind Singh, disclosed the discovery of several stains found at the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office here, which may prove to be key evidence in the inquest.

Gobind had reported finding two new details at the MACC office at Plaza Masalam when the inquest team visited the site last Friday.

He asked the coroner to order an immediate investigation on four reddish-coloured marks found on the walls of the MACC office on levels 14 and 15 as well as on the concrete steps of the internal staircase linking the two floors as he suspected they may aid the inquest in learning how Teoh died.

“We saw a trace of what we believe to be blood stains,” Gobind said. Lawyers acting for the Selangor government and the Bar Council were also present during the site visit last week.

He added that he had directed the police investigating officer's (IO) attention to the marks and asked him to close off the area and investigate them.

But the IO had not done so, Gobind said.

“It is of critical importance that these marks be investigated without any delay. I pray that we be allowed, together with the experts, to go back to Plaza Masalam in order to have those stains examined,” he added.

Lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, who is acting for the state, asked for the inquest to be postponed to tomorrow morning pending the results of the stain swabs.

Tan Hock Chuan, who is leading the Attorney-General's team, had no objections and added his vote for the stain samples to be analysed today.

Tan said he had directed the IO to seal off the area on Saturday morning after getting a written note from Malik late Friday afternoon.

Magistrate Azmil Muntapha Abas, who is acting as coroner in the inquest, ordered an immediate test done on the stains today.

He told Tan to first check whether the stains are actually human blood stains before testing further to see if they were Teoh’s.

Government DNA expert Dr Seah Lay Hong, who had testified last Thursday as the ninth witness, is being recalled to Plaza Masalam to swab the stairs and walls where the stains were found and run tests on the latest discovery.

Azmil also agreed to Gobind's request for an independent forensic expert to examine the marks.

The state government is sharing resources with Teoh's family and have consulted two foreign forensic experts, one from Thailand and the other from Australia, in the inquest.

Famed Thai pathologist, Bangkok-based Porntip Rojanasunan, from the Central Institute of Forensic Science, has sent two of her colleagues to assist the lawyers. Both men were present in court today.

Porntip made international news when she was asked to help identify victims of the 2004 tsunami.

Courtesy : Themalaysianinsider