KUALA LUMPUR: Four men were charged at the Magistrate’s Court here today with murdering former Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) researcher Wan Hassan Wan Embong at his house two weeks ago.
Ravindran Manimurasu, Kogilan Panniselvam, Sugu Thangarajoo and Vickeswaran Selvach Santhiran were jointly accused of committing the offence in the wee hours of Nov 29 at Bukit Bandaraya, Bangsar.
They will face the death penalty if found guilty. All four indicated they understood the charge after it was read to them.
Magistrate Wong Chai Sia fixed March next year as the next mention date.
Meanwhile, at the Sessions Court, the four pleaded not guilty to robbing a 33-year-old man at Taman Tiara Titiwangsa, Setapak, on the same day. They were accused of robbing the man of RM38,000, using a parang, a knife and a hammer.
Judge Izralizam Sanusi did not offer bail for the four and fixed March 9 as the next mention date.
Previously, police said they had arrested a total of 13 individuals over Wan Hassan’s death.
The researcher was reported to have been slashed with a parang when he tried to put up a fight against burglars who broke in through the kitchen window of his double-storey bungalow at about 3.30am.
His wife, Sarifah Yusof suffered slash wounds on the right hand.